For the Love of Music!
by mutantpenguins
Summary: Edward Elric was really looking forward to the latest season of marching band... until he found out that he would be working next to Roy Mustang to lead the band. AU, Ed/Roy.
1. Prologue

So Ember's giving the Ed/Roy fanbase a real treat and posting this a little early. Don't look for updates all too frequently... Ember's only written seven chapters. *sadface*

In any case, written totally for fun by a confessed band geek, so read and enjoy!

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For the Love of Music

_Prologue_

All of the students in the award ceremony waited with bated breath, but none more so than Edward Elric. This was the moment they'd been waiting for. They would soon find out who their student leaders would be, the ones who would quite literally be the top of the band.

The director was about to announce the names of the drum majors for the next marching season.

Ed had never wanted anything more than he wanted this. He loved music, and he'd watched as several drum majors came and went. Their job was so prestigious, like the top of the marching world. He loved the idea of being in leadership for once (normally he shied away from responsibility, preferring to be a member of the group so that he could continue doing whatever he wanted).

The director finally began to speak in an agonizingly slow voice. "And the drum majors for next marching season will be…"

_Come on_, thought Ed. _Get on with it_.

"Edward Elric and Roy Mustang!"

_WHAT?!_ Ed shouted mentally as the others applauded with more than a hint of laughter. The enmity between Mustang and himself was well-known; Ed couldn't stand Mustang's cockiness and womanizing ways and Mustang hated that an upstart rising junior could be equally as capable as himself, a rising senior. Luckily, their circles were very far apart, as Ed was something of a nerd (but _with_ friends, thank you_ very_ much!) and Mustang was an athlete (he ran track when marching was over, if Ed remembered right). The only time they had to put up with each other (or not) was during band practices. For whatever reason, they both enjoyed the class (or Mustang seemed to, anyway), and so neither would drop it just because the other was there. This meant, however, that their quarrels were band legend; nothing was quite the same, however many people tried to reenact the scenes they made.

He would do it, though. Even though he hated Mustang with a passion equivalent to a thousand burning suns, he would do it. Why? Because he loved music more.

After the ceremony ended he and Mustang were both pulled aside. "Listen to me," the director stated firmly. "I'm sure you've been thinking that I have no idea what I'm doing, and that there's no way the two of you can do this together. Let me assure you that I know exactly what I'm doing, and that you'll find a way to work together in the month you have until band camp starts. Why? Because I won't tolerate leaders acting toward each other the way you two do. You'll work together like you want the band to work together, or I'll know why. Got it?"

A few mutterings of "Yes, sir" later, they were released, glaring at each other as they went their separate ways.

Ed sighed. This was quite possibly going to be the task of his school life. At least he had a month to figure out how to work with Mustang without killing himself in the process. He'd need every second of that time.


	2. Chapter 1: The First Day

I love Malfoy as a ferret- Thank you for your kind review. And Ember must point out that she LOVES your username. (Also loves Malfoy as a ferret XD.)

Trumpet-Geek- Ember is glad that you are intrigued. Very glad. She likes to think she's intriguing.

And now, to get into the real story so you all can get more of an idea of what this is like. And hopefully a better grasp of the way things are going will prompt more reviews? Please?

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_Chapter 1: The First Day_

Ed stood to one side, feeling rather useless.

Admittedly, the physical activity part was Mustang's forte, and he hadn't been very much against the other teenager leading warm-ups. Still, he felt totally useless. This wasn't exactly how he'd expected things would go when he'd signed up to try out for the position.

Still, the better parts were coming. They just had to get through the morning.

Finally warm-ups were over and marching lessons could begin. Ed smiled. Finally he could be useful.

"All right," he stated. "We're going to start learning how to march. I'll explain what you do, and _Roy—_" he stressed the name ever so slightly, it being the first time he'd ever said it and also to show that he was attempting to be civil— "will demonstrate."

Mustang glared at him for a split second, but did as he said without complaint. This was going better than he'd thought it would. Maybe they could work together after all. As long as they could keep the words he knew they were both longing to shout in each other's general direction to themselves while they had to appear to be in charge of things, it would be all right.

After a strained morning of marching lessons, Ed was looking forward to the music lesson, as neither of them would have much to do there for the first couple of days. He wasn't disappointed, as it was entirely possible for the two of them to be on opposite ends of a very large room.

When they broke for sectional practice, Ed smiled. It was time to get a little homework done while he still could. Finding an empty corner that no one was likely to stumble upon, he had just gotten his books out when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"_Hey, it's me,"_ said a voice. "_I was wondering if you could help with my chemistry work?_"

Ed smiled. "Sure, Winry. Which problem?" he asked absentmindedly, already flipping through the packet in question.

"_Number 13, that one with all the bonding explanations?_"

"Oh, no problem. Did you try to draw the structures? That really helps."

"_Yeah, but some of them I just couldn't get._"

"Yeah? Which ones?"

"_Well, nitrogen for one._"

"Ok. What happens with nitrogen is you have two Ns next to each other with a triple bond between them. Then there's a pair of dots left for each N. All right?"

"_Yeah. Got it,_" she said after a moment.

"Ok. You got the structure for oxygen, right?"

"_Yeah._"

"Good. Now look at them both and tell me what's different between them."

There was silence for a second, and then she said hesitantly, "_Oxygen has more pairs of dots than nitrogen does_?"

"Exactly." As the question continued, Ed scribbling on a scrap sheet of paper as necessary, he quickly forgot about the day's events with the presentation of his favorite thing in the world: a challenge.

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Roy walked down the hall, having just made sure the clarinets were actually working. (They hadn't been, but he had changed that quickly enough. It wouldn't do to have his own former section slacking off.) As he turned a corner, he stopped suddenly, staring.

What the hell was Elric doing?

Well, that was fairly obvious. He was talking on the phone and doing homework. But why was the more important question at hand.

With a few more moments of observation that too became obvious. He wasn't just doing homework; he was helping some person Roy didn't know over the phone.

Roy watched for a few more moments before turning on his heel and walking back in the direction he had come from. He had been intruding, of that he had no doubts. However, he had seen a side of the younger teenager that he hadn't thought existed. Usually he was convinced Elric was a stuck-up elitist nerd. But someone matching that description wouldn't help anyone with their homework over the phone without at least a few disparaging remarks.

Well, it was something to think about. Maybe Elric wasn't quite as bad as he'd previously thought.

Maybe, just maybe, this whole thing could work after all.

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Finally, they were done for the night. Ed stayed behind to clean up the room a bit. Really, it was amazing just how messy the others could be. He finally understood why the director was always yelling at them about the mess. It was just… awful.

Turning down the hallway to leave, he paused when he heard a sound.

Strange, he identified it as the sound of a clarinet, and he was never wrong about these things. But everyone else had left long ago, or so he'd thought.

Sighing, he figured it was some unfortunate freshman who had failed to get a ride home. He turned back around to go offer said freshman a ride himself, since he was the only other person still here at this point.

Looking through the window of the practice room to see who it was, he froze in shock as he realized it was no freshman who sat there practicing some etude or other. It was Mustang.

Sitting outside the door, he listened for a while. Sure, he despised the person, but the music he was playing sounded… amazing. The tone was absolutely beautiful, and he was being very musical with the piece, where so many others would regard it as what they saw: just a few notes on a page. It was no wonder that he was perennially top clarinet in whatever band he happened to be in.

Having easily lost himself to the music, he didn't hear the door to the practice room open. He jumped when a voice said, "And what might you be doing here?"

Getting over his momentary shock, Ed replied, "I was cleaning up the band room, and then I heard someone playing and figured it was some freshman who couldn't get a ride."

"You mistook me for a freshman? I am mortally offended." Despite the words, Ed noted with more than a little surprise that there was hardly any actual malice in his voice. That was really strange, normally they'd already be screaming at each other.

Maybe it was that surprise that prompted him to say what he said next, something that would never have normally been uttered in Mustang's presence: "That was… amazing, by the way."

Mustang looked every bit as surprised as he was that he had said that. "How else do you expect me to stay on top of one of the most competitive sections there is? It's not by sitting around and doing nothing, like the rest of the section."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

"Oh, I do. I caught them earlier today in sectionals trying to have a dance party in the guitar room."

"You WHAT?!" Ed shouted through a sudden bout of laughter.

"I caught them trying to have a dance party. I say trying because they really can't dance to save their lives." Mustang couldn't help but smile a bit himself.

Ed was clutching his sides by this point, seriously worried that they just might split. "Well," he managed to say between fits of laughter, "I'm really… not surprised at all… that the clarinets were being… lazy as usual. But that's… beyond lazy! That's just… sad!"

"Yes, it is," Mustang agreed.

Ed instantly stopped laughing. "No way," he stated.

"What?"

"Did we just honestly agree on something?"

Mustang appeared to think back a bit before taking on a shocked expression. "You're right. I'm going home before hell freezes over and pigs start flying all over the place."

"Just for that, I'm attaching fake wings to a pig and throwing it at you tomorrow."

Mustang snorted, the bastard. "As if you could. Bye now!" And he walked away before Ed could tell him exactly what he thought of him and his sarcastic remarks.

END CH. 1


	3. Chapter 2: The Aftermath

I love Malfoy as a ferret- Yes, band people are some of the messiest people Ember knows. It gets pretty bad sometimes. And she's glad you agree with the pick for Roy. She figured he needed something with a great amount of finger dexterity required, since he's always snapping in the manga/anime. As for Ed, she's not sure if she mentioned it or not, but he plays trumpet and she tried to make that a bit clearer. Why trumpet? It's really loud and really characteristic in tone- kinda like Ed. Plus, Ember LOVES long reviews... and they get long review responses (wink wink nudge nudge) XD.

SendMeAGiftBasketOrElse- The dance party in the guitar room is no lie. Ember plays clarinet in the real world, and that's exactly what her section did one time. It was every bit as pathetic as Ed and Roy made it out to be. Try to picture whiter-than-anything girls rapping. Yeah. It didn't work out. BTW, somehow it doesn't surprise Ember that it was a saxophone player that started your random dance party. Saxophone players are crazy as a general rule, but a fun crazy. Ember loves your joke, as does her cohort Rags to Riches, and thank you kindly for your long review!

~*~*~

Ember's going on vacation! After a two-day jaunt in St. Louis, she'll be heading somewhere quieter and closer to home (and therefore kept a closely guarded secret). So there won't be updates, but there could be a great story when she gets back!

And now...

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_Chapter 2: The Aftermath_

When they arrived the next day Roy quickly noticed that Elric was avoiding him like the plague as much as was possible in their situation. Not that that was surprising or even really unwanted; Roy had a lot to puzzle through about that situation.

That would have to wait, though. Before he had time to himself there was another day of practice to get through.

The morning would pass relatively quickly, since it was all review of what they had done yesterday. All that remained was correcting more of the freshmen who, being new, were almost invariably doing something wrong.

Flipping through the music people had already brought him to play during marching warm-ups when they got to that, Roy grimaced. Clearly they hadn't understood the requirements. He had to know how fast the song was, so an approximation of the beats per minute was necessary, and several of the songs he recognized as containing various profanities. Since this was a school activity, he just couldn't allow the latter, even if they were good songs.

Roy sighed. He'd just have to remind everyone of what he could and couldn't do. Again.

As he'd predicted, the morning went smoothly with no interruptions. It was early in the season and people weren't used to marching for so long out of the day. They weren't energetic enough to be up to their usual antics just yet. That was really a good thing, since Roy wasn't sure anyone else had the energy to deal with the troublemakers that, while really only numbering a few people, could easily seem to make up half the band.

During lunch there were a few freshman squabbles he'd had to deal with, but nothing too major. He'd had practice dealing with and being in far worse than that. His shouting matches with Elric were still something of a legend, and he'd caught everyone except the freshmen looking at them almost expectantly, as if they were certain they would start screaming at each other at any moment. So the relatively minor quarrels everyone else had were incredibly easy to deal with.

There was no rehearsal as a band that day. The director had decided that the time would be better put to use in sectionals fixing the many mistakes everyone was making. Roy was fine with that; it made his job easier, since all he and Elric had to do was make sure everyone was indeed working.

Doing his rounds quickly, he finally made it to the guitar room where the clarinets were supposed to be practicing. Hopefully this time they actually were; he had very nearly been scarred for life by the attempts at dancing that had been displayed the day before.

Quickly poking his head in, he sighed quietly with relief when he found they actually were practicing.

Before he could leave, though, the section leader called, "Roy!"

"Yes?" he asked, silently hoping this wouldn't take too long.

"Could you take a look at this one part? No one knows how to play it."

"Hang on. You're lucky I brought my clarinet; I can actually take a look at it. I'll be back." And with that he left the room with a spare part in hand, already skimming through it to try and guess how it would go.

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Ed walked around the halls in a more meandering way, checking rooms here and there as he went. He really didn't care where he went first. It didn't matter, as long as they made sure everyone was practicing like they should.

Of course, it had taken longer than it should have to escape the trumpet room. Everyone there had had some form of greeting for the drum major that played trumpet, maybe a comment here or there, and he'd had to respond to them all. While the trumpet section might not have been as large as, say, the piccolos, it was still a relatively big section and there were a lot of people in it.

When his feet led him towards where the guitar room was, Ed paused for a second. He remembered that Mustang had said the other day that the clarinets had been slacking off, so he should check on them. But the mental images he'd created had been truly horrific, and he was somewhat afraid of going in there.

Carefully he turned around the corner, braced to run at any second. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so far. Then again, they could simply have learned the need to be quiet about slacking off.

Ed quickly shook his head. Slacking clarinets were never quiet; it was one of the first things everyone learned about the section. In all likelihood they were actually working.

Still, he was admittedly mildly apprehensive of what he might see.

Standing near the door, his eyes widened as he quickly looked inside.

Of all the things he'd expected to see, none had been the scene before him.

The clarinets were all paying close attention to Mustang, who had his own instrument and was evidently showing the rest how a part went.

Ed stood there for some time, taking in the scene of working clarinets. Goodness knew it was a rare enough scene. And it was a nice change to watch someone who clearly enjoyed doing what he did share his knowledge with others.

All of a sudden he froze. This was just wrong. He shouldn't be standing here like some kind of crazy stalker.

He couldn't help but look at the scene one last time and smile, though, before walking away.

As he began wandering aimlessly once more, he noticed that two saxophone players had somehow escaped their section leader and were messing around with a paper airplane, throwing it back and forth.

Walking between the two he deftly caught the paper airplane between the first two fingers of his left hand before proceeding down the hall accompanied by many protests.

After a while he shouted back in their direction. "You can make another one just like it when you're done with sectionals! Now get back to your section!"

Finding a corner, funnily enough the same one he'd spent the day before doing homework in, he sat down, examining the plane. It wasn't a horrible job, but Ed was amazed it had flown as well as it did. The properties were all wrong.

Refolding the plane here and there, he soon made it far better than anything those two saxophone players could have dreamed of. He smirked. It paid to pay attention in science classes.

Experimentally tossing the plane down the hallway, he smirked again as he saw it glide all the way to the other end before gently landing on the floor.

Picking it up, he decided that it would be more fun to have the plane rotate as it went and adjusted the wings accordingly.

Suddenly he remembered the conversation he'd had with Mustang the night before. He chuckled briefly. This could get interesting.

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Roy was about to leave for the evening when something hit him in the back of the head. Turning around quickly, he looked for both the object and whoever had thrown it. He found a paper airplane, but the only person around was Elric, and he was walking away, already farther away than Roy was sure a plane could be thrown.

Sighing, he looked at the paper airplane more closely. It was designed differently than anything he'd seen made before. Wondering how it would fly, he threw it down a side hallway, amazed when it hit the door at the end at a height almost to the ceiling. It was a strange design, but it flew amazingly. Maybe Elric had thrown it after all.

Looking at it once more, his eyes widened when he saw a drawing of a pig's head with wings on one wing.

That was strange. Carefully Roy unfolded the plane to see if there was anything else on it.

There was a single line of handwriting. _I told you I'd throw a pig with wings at you._

Roy stared at it for a while and then began laughing. It seemed Elric had a sense of humor after all.

END CH. 2


	4. Chapter 3: Talking

arissa-x: Thanks very much for your kind review. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Trumpet-Geek: Trumpets are indeed a large section. And yes, Ember's band is rather strict too. It's just that... supervision during sectionals is very lax and much like what Ember's describing. That's right, this is SO real life influenced. Speaking of which, this chapter includes a cameo appearance by Ember and Rags to Riches. Ember just couldn't resist leaving that part of her band story out. Go freshman!us. And Ember liked the plane too. It just... came to her, she guesses.

I love Malfoy as a ferret: Band people are the messiest people ever. And Ember guesses that as for supervision it depends on the section? In her band the saxophones as well as the clarinets are known for slacking (sadface. One day the clarinets will reign supreme!). Thanks for agreeing with Ember's pick of instruments!

catwwomen47: Thank you very much for all your wonderful reviews. Yes, this is very much a fun fic for Ember as it lets her relive the good old days/years even as she prepares for another one. And not only are band people the messiest people ever, they're the funnest people ever. And they'd make great lovers too. But that's another band tale. Maybe in another review response.

~*~*~

Ember's back from vacation and very much relaxed. But guess what: band camp starts tomorrow! MORE STORY FODDER!

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_Chapter 3: Talking_

When Ed showed up the next morning, he was a mixed bag of emotions and it confused the hell out of him.

On the one hand, he wanted to keep avoiding Mustang as long as possible and dreaded seeing his reaction to the plane he'd thrown yesterday.

On the other hand, though, he _wanted_ to see said reaction. He thought it would probably be the most hilarious thing he'd seen in his life, as Mustang was sure to throw a fit.

Then again, on a third hand (he wasn't entirely sure where it had come from, but thanked it for being present to hold another emotion), he hoped that Mustang got the message he'd realized the plane could have symbolized.

It had hit him after thinking random thoughts for a while that by acknowledging their conversation like that, it could be interpreted as an invitation to continue that kind of relationship. In a way, he was kind of afraid of that. But then again, it hadn't been so bad.

Sighing, Ed shook his head. It wouldn't do to dwell on general confusion. He knew that by now.

So why couldn't he stop thinking about it?

He just hoped this whole thing would resolve itself soon so that his life could return to a semblance of normality.

Apparently he had decided to continue with the complex emotions vein of thinking, as he wasn't quite sure how to feel when Mustang arrived and proceeded to ignore him.

Oh, he knew exactly how he _should_ have felt. He should have been relieved. If Mustang was ignoring him then he could ignore Mustang.

And yet he didn't feel that way. And it was confusing the hell out of him.

The morning passed in a kind of daze. Ed just hoped he didn't look too obviously preoccupied in front of everyone else.

He also really hoped that no one had caught him throwing brief confused looks in Mustang's direction. If they had he just might have to crawl into a corner and die.

By the time they walked back inside for music practice, Ed was absolutely furious with himself. He shouldn't care what Mustang thought of him, really he shouldn't!

But he was finding that he did, to an extent.

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Roy, on the other hand, was smirking as they walked into the school.

He was sure Elric thought he hadn't noticed the other teenager's agitated state of being. But he had, and the reaction was amusing to no end.

Also amusing were the general '_what the hell?!_' looks that he was sure he wasn't supposed to have noticed being thrown in his direction. He'd have to tell Elric that 'deer in the headlights' was a good look for him.

Confusing, though, was he wasn't sure whether he would mean it as a joke or if he actually thought that.

Of course, he didn't really find Elric attractive. He just didn't swing that way. But when Elric looked at him with those huge confused and kind of scared eyes…

Roy shook his head. That wasn't something he needed to think about.

Instead he figured it was time to let Elric off the hook. He was sure the younger teenager had had more than enough of this, and he was surprisingly of a similar mindset.

Then again, was it really all that surprising for someone who generally didn't ignore people to have had enough of just that action?

Ignoring that question, for it wouldn't do to think himself in circles, he instead pulled something out of the unlocked band locker he had temporarily claimed as his.

Turning and noticing that he and Elric had been the only people to elect to stay in the band room for any longer than strictly necessary, he threw the paper airplane back at Elric.

The plane connected with the back of the other teenager's head, and he whipped around, scowling until he noticed who had thrown it.

Roy smirked as he watched Elric's eyes widen with shock. "You know, a pig's head drawn on a paper airplane doesn't really count. You said you'd throw a pig with fake wings at me."

The shock on Elric's face was replaced with indignation. "It counts! I never specified whether or not the pig could be fake!"

"When you said pig, you implied a real animal."

"Oh, so what you _meant_ is you need a companion?" Elric's tone was mocking, but there was something different in his eyes. It was as if he wanted this to continue.

Well, if he wanted to shift from ignoring each other to talking like this, Roy wasn't going to complain. And so he walked closer, ignoring the widening of Elric's eyes. "I guess you could say that," he said quietly when he got close enough.

Noting that the other teenager looked like he couldn't frame a proper reply to that, he turned and walked out of the band room. "See you later… pig," he said, looking back with a smirk and winking.

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In recent memory Ed had never been happier to be insulted.

It was a strange thing, yes. And in reality it made no sense. After all, Ed wasn't about to throw himself at Mustang. But it was an acknowledgment of where they stood with each other.

It was remarkable, how easy it was to talk to each other as they got ready to leave that evening. It was also easy to ignore the blatant staring coming from just about every pair of eyeballs in the band.

Most remarkable was how easy the transition was from 'Elric' and 'Mustang' to 'Ed' and 'Roy'. For all their time spent screaming at each other, this was incredibly simple, as if their relationship should have been this way from the beginning.

Suddenly the conversation paused as two freshmen approached nervously, yet determinedly.

"Yes?" Ed asked.

One of the freshmen looked up with vivid green eyes as she stammered somewhat nervously. "Um… see, we're doing this survey and we were wondering…"

The other freshman, this one with hazel eyes (for which Ed was grateful, otherwise the two would have been impossible to differentiate), cut in at this point. "Do pencils have feelings?"

Ed stared between the two, somewhat taken aback. "What?" he managed to stammer out.

The green-eyed freshman looked like she was unable to speak, so the hazel-eyed one took over once more. "See, she's convinced that pencils have feelings because trees have feelings, but I don't think so because the wood used to make a pencil is dead wood and—"

Ed cut her off gently before turning to Roy. "What the hell are these freshmen ON?!" he gasped, starting to laugh hysterically.

Roy chuckled. "It makes me so glad I'm graduating. Congratulations, Ed, this is what you get to deal with next year. May all incoming freshmen come to you with such strange questions," he proclaimed in the voice of a religious man invoking a blessing.

"Thanks," Ed commented wryly. "Just what I always wanted."

The freshmen quickly made a new category on their slip of paper to allow for their response and walked off, the green-eyed one still looking somewhat dazed as the hazel-eyed one attempted to snap her out of it.

Roy elbowed him gently, smirking. "She liked you."

Ed stared at him, wide-eyed. "She _what_?!"

"Did you not see the way the green-eyed one was staring at you? She thought you were the best-looking thing she'd ever seen."

"So? There's a difference between looks and personality, and I don't think I could ever be around someone that easily intimidated."

Roy looked like he thought Ed had a point. "Yeah, she wouldn't last long, would she? I think she'd run away from you in a week."

"Depends on how scary I feel like being. I bet I could make her run screaming in a day if I wanted to."

"Hmm, maybe," Roy said doubtfully. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Ed replied before walking away.

As he walked to his car, he reflected briefly on the day. He wasn't sure why, but it was one of the happier days he'd had recently.

Then again, he didn't really care why. All the doubt and confusion of the past couple of days were over. They were talking.

END CH. 3

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That survey really happened. Points if you can guess which freshman is Ember and which is Rags to Riches!


	5. Chapter 4: Friends

catwwomen47: Nice. Very nice. Our band's biggest (and worst) habit is that we routinely chant "water break" and whenever the director tells us to do something and then we'll have a break we shout "Do you promise?!". It's rather obnoxious, whereas yours seems amusing.

Bursting-Bubbles: Aww. Well, not everyone's great at every instrument. And not everyone's quite crazy enough to survive a band camp. But that's another story...

I love Malfoy as a ferret: Points for you! You guessed right.

arissa-x: Ember's glad you're enjoying.

* * *

The mutant penguins now have a livejournal! We'll post the link up to our page as soon as Ember posts this, so you all can go check it out. Anywho, there you'll find what all we're doing, maybe a story or two, and any excuses Ember has for not posting within a week of the last post. So go check it out; we'll be using it.

* * *

_Chapter 4: Friends_

During a water break on the hottest day of the week Roy decided it would be a good idea to go over to the color guard and have a chat. They hadn't done anything wrong, quite the contrary. He just liked the conversation and how insane the group could be.

Ed came with him, not really knowing what to expect. Roy smirked. He was in for it.

As they approached, the captain shouted, "You'd better have chocolate, bastard!" as half the guard agreed.

Ed muttered, "What'd you do to piss all of them off?"

Roy simply smirked and replied, "That time of month, huh?" as they arrived.

"Like I said, you'd better have chocolate," the same girl growled.

"Relax," he said, pulling something out of his bag. "I brought a sacrifice."

At that point Ed glanced in his direction with the most terrified expression he'd ever seen.

Roy laughed as he tossed the large bag of chocolate to the girls. "There, fight to the death over that."

As they fought to get as much of the chocolate as possible, Roy smirked at Ed, who was staring wide-eyed at the commotion around him. "Rule number one," he stated. "When dealing with the guard always come prepared because half of them PMS at the same time."

Ed positively jumped as one of the girls came up behind him and hugged him suddenly. "I like your friend, Roy," she said. "Can I keep him?"

Roy laughed. "No, sorry. He has other things he needs to do."

The girl, a blonde, tightened her grip. "But it'd be so much _fun_," she stated, making Ed turn the brightest shade of red he'd ever seen.

Roy decided to come to Ed's rescue. "We both know you wouldn't, so could you stop scaring him?"

"What do you mean, scaring him?" The blonde looked at Ed's face, which was giving fire trucks a run for their money in the redness department, and smirked. "Ah. We have us a prude. You'll need to work on that," she declared as she withdrew.

"Oh, I will," Roy replied as Ed glared in his general direction. "Come on, Ed, we've got to get people back to work."

Ed was still glaring at him as they left. "And why exactly did you decide to put me through that?"

"Oh, come on. You were just on the wrong side of things; they're some of the funniest people I know. Go to them if you ever want a good conversation. That is, if you don't mind the humor getting a little dirty."

"I'll say," Ed muttered to himself as they made sure everyone else was getting back to work.

* * *

Ed had just finished recovering from Roy's last escapade when they stopped for a break at noon.

Just then someone else approached. The young man seemed to know Roy, for he stopped to say hello. "And who is this?" he asked, looking in Ed's direction.

Roy stepped in to introduce them. "Maes, this is Edward Elric. Ed, this is my friend Maes Hughes."

This Maes person's eyes lit up behind his glasses in recognition of the name. "Oh. So you're _that_ one," he grinned.

Ed was instantly suspicious. "And what do you mean by _that_?" he demanded.

"Oh, nothing. Just that Roy would always tell me that you two were screaming at each other again. It's kind of a surprise that you're not screaming right now." But Maes' smile was large and telling. Ed _knew_ there was something else going on there. He just wasn't quite sure what.

He'd ignore that for now, though. "Well, we kind of decided that it's more fun to be like this. See, when we were screaming at each other we'd just be pissed off the rest of the day. Now we're not."

"I can see that. So what are you two doing now?" Maes asked.

"Eating," Roy replied.

"Doing my chemistry homework," Ed added.

"Chemistry, huh?" Maes' smile was absolutely wicked.

Well, two could play at that game. "Yeah, I'm on this great question about phosphine gas."

Maes' eyes twinkled. "Now, Ed. Playing with phosphine isn't the answer to your problems."

Ed stared at Maes. "You know what that is?"

"Yeah. Fun stuff, but none for you."

At this point Roy had about had it. "And just what is phosphine?!"

Ed took the liberty of explaining. "Phosphine is an incredibly toxic and flammable gas known to ignite on contact with the air."

Maes laughed. "I'm surprised you didn't know that, confessed pyromaniac that you are, Roy."

"I try to block out my chemistry days."

"Well, in any case, you two can forget about any plans you might have had for the next hour. You're coming with me." Ed had to wonder if the wicked grin on Maes' face was permanent. It certainly seemed so.

"Coming where?" Roy asked suspiciously. "The last time you said that was freshman year; I almost missed rehearsal entirely."

Ed stared at him. "You WHAT?!"

"Mistakes of the past; I don't like them to be brought up."

Maes cut in at that moment. "Don't worry, I know you have to be all responsible and stuff now. We're just going down the road for lunch so I can meet your friend here."

"Isn't that what you said last time, before your mom had driven an hour?"

"But I actually mean it this time!"

"Roy, you're forgetting something," Ed added.

Roy looked at him. "What?"

"We can drive now. If he takes too long with whatever he's doing we can just leave."

"You're a genius. Remind me why I never talked to you before?" Roy asked, evidently awed.

Ed laughed. "Because you're an oblivious bastard?" he suggested.

Maes grinned. "That he is. But he's a funny oblivious bastard."

And so they left, Ed and Maes laughing and Roy glaring at them.

* * *

At least they had gotten back on time, Roy reflected as they walked inside.

Actually, truth be told, it had been kind of fun, even if most of the jokes had been totally at his expense. He never would have expected Ed to fit right into that situation, but apparently he was far more sociable than he ever let on.

Rehearsal that afternoon passed quickly and before Roy knew it, it was time to leave.

Also before Roy knew it Ed had somehow appeared at his side. "Well, that was boring, don't you think?"

Roy smirked. "So I've improved and I can think now?"

Ed laughed. "I don't know, can you?"

Roy replied, "Well, I _think _I can…"

"If you think you can, then you can think. It's that simple."

All of a sudden Ed froze as they both heard a high-pitched noise. Roy frowned. "What is it?" he asked.

"Winry," Ed managed before the wrench collided with his head.

Quickly grabbing the other teen before he fell over at the impact, Roy wondered what on earth had caused a wrench of all things to fly in Ed's direction.

Looking back at where the strange projectile had come from he saw a blond girl about their age heading their way. "Ed!" she shouted, looking furious.

"What?!" Ed shouted back. Apparently he knew this girl.

"What did you do to my workbench?! It's never that messy!"

"I haven't touched your damn workbench! And why'd you have to throw that wrench at me again?! Haven't you done it enough for a lifetime?!"

At this the girl smiled. "Even if I have, I'll just keep doing it. And who's your friend?"

Roy quickly introduced himself as Ed finished his quick recovery from the wrench impact.

The girl—Winry, as she had introduced herself—seemed surprised. "Huh. I never thought he'd talk to you civilly like he is now. Normally he'd go on for hours with his rants about how you'd managed to piss him off that particular day."

Roy smirked. "Hours, huh?"

Ed looked embarrassed. "Shut up, Winry."

Winry was evidently undaunted. "Oh, yes. And you always got the most creative and colorful names. I wrote some down once; I wish I could remember them off the top of my head. But the point is that I never would have imagined you two could just sit here talking like this."

Roy laughed. "For the longest time we didn't think so either."

Ed joined in. "Then we were told we had to work together, or else. The band director is very convincing when he wants to be, even if he is insane."

Winry turned to walk away. "You'd better get home soon, Ed. Granny said to say she saved some stew for you."

"Cool. I'll be home soon, don't worry."

"Worry? Since when?" Winry scoffed, walking away. "Bye, guys!"

"Home?" Roy asked quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Her grandmother took my brother and me in after our mom died six years ago. They're the closest thing to family we have now." Ed sounded calm as he said those words, and his face was distant. Roy suspected there was more to the story, but he didn't ask.

Ed seemed to pull himself from wherever his thoughts had gone, for he continued, "I should go."

Roy smiled. "See you tomorrow, then." And they walked their separate ways.

END CH. 4

* * *

Ember's offering to write a story prompted by the winner of this next little competition. The first person to correctly guess who the captain of the color guard is can PM us or something with what they'd like to see in a story and Ember will write it. How will you find out you won? We'll tell you with the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 5: Ambiguity

Trumpet-Geek: Thank you very much for your honest criticism. It was going slowly, wasn't it? Don't worry, though- the plot (or the romance- one and the same, really) does indeed pick up from here. Ember got sick of drawing out the friendship and desperately wanted to start torturing her beloved characters.

PaperBagGhost: Thanks. We love people telling us we're awesome. We love kudos too, incidentally. :)

I love Malfoy as a ferret: You do indeed get points, because Ember loves your response. Get any more points and Ember just might have to do something about it, O Clever Reviewer. And as for them getting pushed into each other... Well... All Ember can say is good things happen to those who wait a couple of chapters. ;)

Bursting-Bubbles: Oh sorry! Ember was making a generic comment, and hopes like hell she didn't offend in any way. It was nothing against your level of insanity, which Ember is sure is great. After all, we're all crazy geeks here at , aren't we?

Shannon R.: As we said to PaperBagGhost, we love people telling us we're awesome. It's people like you who worship the pages we write on that keep us going, really.

Funni-Chan: Our first PM! Yay! Now when Ember checks that inbox it's never empty because yours is there! Oh happy day!

* * *

Thank you all for your wonderful and clever answers to Ember's little contest. While so many of them could have been it, there was only one winner, who Ember will PM immediately after this post looking for specifications on what she'll be writing.

* * *

_Chapter 5: Ambiguity_

It was the hottest day of band camp, the last day before learning drill, and they had only gotten through an hour of it. Ed had pulled his hair into a high ponytail, and he was certain that when his clothes finally dried he would lose several pounds of water weight.

He and Roy were talking to the color guard once more, and he turned just in time to see one of the girls dump a fair amount of water on Roy's head.

Roy didn't seem too happy at this turn of events. "That was cold!"

The girl, a captain by the name of Riza Hawkeye, smirked. "But you looked hot. Still do, in fact. Need some more?"

Roy quickly made a loud denial and, when threatened with the water anyway, turned tail and ran for it. Riza stood up quickly, slowly gaining on him as she chased him around the parking lot.

Ed watched them, smiling until a certain phrase hit him.

'_But you looked hot. Still do, in fact._'

As those words suddenly entered his head he stared unknowingly. Roy did look pretty good, though, as far as guys went. Ed could see why he had the reputation with the ladies that he did.

Wait. Had he just used the words 'Roy' and 'look good' in the same mental sentence?

That was most certainly a strange thought to be having. Ed had never really thought of anyone like that before, male or female. He just hadn't really been interested, having been too involved with schoolwork and band to really look at anyone twice. But now that he thought of it…

He shook his head to dislodge that thought chain. Those had certainly been strange thoughts. It must've been the heat.

He didn't notice, though, that he continued to stare as Riza finally caught up to Roy and dumped still more water on his head as Roy yelped and tried to shake the water out of his hair. He kept watching as the pair laughed and slowly made their way back to the rest of the group.

Before they were even halfway there the girl that had practically jumped him the first time he'd been dragged over to this corner of the parking lot waved a hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Ed? Why are you spacing out like that?"

Ed jumped and he could feel his face reddening. "Nothing." Ed was instantly furious with himself—had that been a squeak?

The blonde smirked. "Are you sure?" she asked in a singsong voice, acting as if she already knew the answer.

"Yes." And Ed quickly dumped some more water over his head, both to cool himself off and to try and shock himself out of this strange state of mind he'd suddenly found himself in.

And yet he was sure his face was still flushed when Roy and Riza finally made their slow way back to the group. It was definitely flushed as he and Roy walked off to start getting everyone else back to work, a long process on hot days like that day.

Yes, it was definitely the heat that was affecting his thought processes. Ed certainly wouldn't think that way normally.

* * *

An hour later, Roy had to admit that Ed was certainly acting very strangely.

The younger teen had been noticeably jumpy the whole time. Well, he was noticeably jumpy when his thoughts were obviously on something other than what they were doing.

He also seemed to be very prone to blushing, although that could have simply been from the heat. He doubted that, though, as that telltale redness always followed those moments where he appeared totally spaced out.

Determined to get to the bottom of the situation, Roy pulled Ed aside at their next break. "Is something going on?" he asked.

Ed jumped nearly a full foot into the air before a blush dusted his cheeks once more. "No."

Roy looked at him suspiciously. "Really?"

"Yes." Had that really been a squeak? Roy wasn't quite sure. He had the feeling, though, that asking would be the wrong thing to do. Ed was jumpy enough as it was.

"Whatever. I know you're lying. But if you don't want to talk about it that's fine." And Roy left it at that. It had probably been a good idea, since Ed was bright red and visibly shaking. He had a feeling he would've gotten very little out of the other teen anyway.

Still vaguely wondering what on earth was going on, Roy sat down and found his third water bottle of the day. It really was unnatural, this heat. It was almost as if the earth had broken out of orbit and was careening toward the sun at an alarming rate.

Chuckling, Roy drank some of the water before dumping more on his head. If he was getting scientific, it was definitely far too hot outside.

Just then the male seniors that made up the drumline walked past the guard, enticing many a whistle because all of them were shirtless.

Riza suddenly spoke up behind him. "You know, I think it should be law that on days like these every guy who can without looking bad should go shirtless," she declared as the other girls cheered.

"Any particular reason you think that?" Roy asked, not exactly liking where this conversation was headed.

"Well, we have to have _something_ to take our minds off this damn heat, don't we?" Riza asked with an evil smile.

"I guess so, but—" Roy cut off as he felt a pair of hands tugging at his shirt. "What the hell?!" he demanded as the shirt found its way off of his head.

"This looked like it was uncomfortable. I was just taking care of it for you," Riza commented lightly. "See? It's soaked through. How much water have you dumped on yourself?" She wondered, wringing the shirt out.

Roy muttered something inaudible and grabbed the shirt back, putting it on and looking around.

Suddenly he noticed that Ed had gotten so red he would certainly make any cherry that saw him cry and seemed to be having difficulty breathing properly. "Ed? Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Ed's wide golden eyes turned toward him briefly before the blond suddenly took off, running across the parking lot as if it was falling away behind him and he had to get as far away as possible in order to survive.

Well, that was strange. He didn't think he'd ever seen Ed flustered before, and he vaguely wondered what had caused it.

* * *

It was finally the end of the day, and for Ed it hadn't come soon enough.

First of all, he'd been thinking strange thoughts all day because of the damn heat. And it had to have been the heat! He'd _never_ looked at anyone like that, especially not another male!

Ed might have been able to deal with it if that had been all.

But no. Fate hated him, of that he was certain. As if that hadn't been enough, the very person he'd been thinking strangely about had to go and ask him what was going on! Ed had very nearly died. At least Roy hadn't pushed the issue too much.

But then Riza had to go and steal Roy's shirt. And he had to mindlessly stare like an idiot as that perfect pale chest was revealed. He shivered lightly just remembering it.

That was it. He had to get inside, and quick, or else he'd never cool off enough to be able to control his mind once more. Roy was _not_ sexy. He _wasn't_.

That said, Ed continued his trek to the air-conditioned indoors, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

Turning to see who it was, he jumped when he saw Roy standing entirely too close for his peace of mind. Then again, his peace of mind would have preferred Roy to be entirely out of sight, so that wasn't exactly saying much.

Oh. Roy was talking. He had better at least _try_ to pay attention. "…sure you're okay? I mean, you kind of scared everyone back there, running off like that."

Great. Ed could feel his face reddening yet again. That was _exactly_ what he needed. Not. "I'm fine," he muttered, turning away so hopefully Roy wouldn't see that he was blushing madly.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to believe that? I don't think I've ever seen you so jumpy before."

There was no reply to that. Not only was Ed incapable of thinking of anything that sounded innocent enough to say out loud, he was quickly becoming incapable of thinking coherently. He had to get out of here.

Turning quickly Ed began to walk faster. Maybe if he was lucky he could get out of here soon and have that be the end of it.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Ed made it a grand total of three rapid paces before he was stopped again, this time by a hand yanking gently at his ponytail.

Growling, he turned to face Roy once more. "What was that for?!" he demanded.

"To get you to stop," Roy said quietly, hand still on Ed's hair. "Though I must admit…"

"Yes?" Ed asked, struggling to breathe normally. If only Roy's hand would stop messing with his hair… but for some strange reason he didn't really want it to.

Leaning in, Roy whispered in his ear as Ed shivered. "Your hair looks good in a ponytail; I kind of like it." And he walked off, leaving a beet-red Ed staring after him breathing in shallow gasps as his thought processes struggled to start again.

It was definitely time to get out of this damn heat as soon as he felt like he could move without falling over.

END CH. 5

* * *

Regrettably, there's no contest this time. Ember's gonna be busy already writing whatever piece she gets commissioned for that last one. "Soon, though, my pretties," she says creepily. "Soon."


	7. Chapter 6: Drilling

Sorry for the incredibly long gap between chapters. As you would know should you be following Ember's livejournal (mutant- penguins. livejournal. com, remove the spaces), there were some real life issues that came into play (damn Ember's busy schedule). Also, this chapter was recently inserted because Ember realized she had forgotten a very important part of band camp. So she had to write this entire chapter with minimal time and, she regrets to say, minimal inspiration. So that's why it took so long, in case you were wondering.

* * *

Musicluver2012: Ember's really glad. A clarinet player herself, she had to make someone do it. She loves the instrument and thinks it could always use a little more loving.

Arissa-x: Yes, poor Ed. It gets even worse for him, don't you worry. :D

I love Malfoy as a ferret: OMG YES. The saxophones in Ember's band had a shirtless day while she was writing this chapter. Suffice it to say she was drooling. Metaphorically speaking, anyway. As for Ed… shall we say he's a little slow on the uptake?

AnimeAddic5: Ember loves you. She loves everybody who says she's fabulous. See? The world would be a better place if Ember was ruler of the world and everybody said she was fabulous every day. Bwa ha ha.

And now, the chapter you've all been waiting for (made extra long just for you folk who were waiting!):

* * *

_Chapter 6: Drilling_

When Roy arrived the next day he saw the packets. There they were, all stacked up where he and Ed had sorted them earlier. Soon they would be meeting their owners. These were the most important papers a marching band member could have. These were drill sheets.

Luckily the duties for the day would not be excessive. He and Ed would be able to simply stand around most of the time, occasionally assisting a lost freshman who couldn't read the instructions printed on the sheets or making sure arcs did not resemble lines and vice versa. It would be a rather lazy day, and he was looking forward to it.

Soon Roy heard the door open, and he didn't even bother turning around. There was only one person who would be here this early. Sure enough, Ed's voice floated toward him. "Hey." He sounded grumpier than usual—a true feat, since Ed was not a morning person in the least and had a particular hatred for anyone who dared say a word to him before half past eight any morning, be it a weekday or a weekend. Roy had no idea how he handled the first classes of the day on a regular basis.

Roy smirked. This could get interesting. "Run out of coffee?" he commented mildly, still without turning around.

"Couldn't sleep worth shit last night," Ed snarled.

Roy finally turned to see a very tousled Ed dumping heaps of sugar into a very large cup of coffee. "You do realize that not only is that horrible for you, but it won't help in the least, right?"

"Shut up, bastard," Ed growled, but the fury of his words was not evident in his face. He was just too tired to deal with Roy's favorite sport of Ed-baiting. That was a shame, really. But Roy had no intention of stopping.

"Besides, how can you drink that? It's vile. Not to mention that cup's about as tall as you are."

The only things that prevented Ed from snapping were the hand Roy clapped over his mouth and the arm he used to hold Ed's own arms still. It was very amusing, though, watching Ed struggle wildly and his face redden with fury as his eyes flashed and he shouted things made incoherent by the hand on his face.

About thirty seconds later the blond teen had calmed down enough that Roy was willing to tentatively release him and hope he hadn't simply been lying in wait to pounce as soon as Roy's guard was down.

It hadn't; instead, Ed seemed even more exhausted. Hopefully he would get a chance to rest at some point during the day.

Idly wondering what had kept him up in the first place, Roy began to restack the piles of drill sheets in numbers that corresponded with the sizes of the various sections. As soon as Ed became aware of what he was doing about thirty seconds later, he knelt down and began sorting piles as well.

When that chore was done Ed picked up a copy and began to look at it curiously, flipping through pages and referencing the counts with bars of the music he had copies of next to him. "Looks like it'll be good this year," he commented. "I like where the company front is, and of course the drill to the slow song makes about as little sense as it usually does. But overall it looks nice."

Then the door opened again and the marchers began pouring in. Roy sighed and stood up, dragging Ed with him because he looked like he could use the help. It was time to get started.

* * *

Ed was furious with himself as they walked out to the parking lot. How could he have let his extreme case of confusion come between him and the good night's sleep he had so desperately needed?

He wasn't sure. Just like he wasn't sure how exactly he was going to get through the day with the scant half hour of sleep he had gotten. Just like he wasn't sure how to get rid of the confusion that still lingered despite his exhaustion.

Lazily he handed out drill to the section leaders so they could pass it out to their sections. As soon as he thought he could get away with it, he sat down at the edge of the lot and laid back, staring up at the fascinating cloud formations in the sky.

He didn't expect to be poked thirty seconds after he had sat down. "You can sleep later. We need to get them started," an all-too-familiar voice said.

"Wasn't sleeping," he protested sleepily.

"I'm sure you weren't," Roy replied sarcastically as he hauled Ed up for the second time that morning. Ed sincerely hoped Roy missed the blush he was sure was painted across his cheeks; when he was sleepy he had even less control over his facial expressions than he normally did.

"I wasn't and you know it. Now shut up and let's get this thing over with." _Yes_, he thought. _Let's get this thing over with so I can get away from you as fast as possible and maybe get a little sleep while I'm at it._

There was not exactly a set time at which they would leave this practice. Instead, they would leave after a certain amount of the drill had been set. Ed rather hoped it would happen quickly.

It certainly seemed to be going well. The freshmen this year had remembered the brief information session on how to read drill and seemed to have minimal difficulties that were easily resolved by section leaders. The only problem was the difference between an arc and a line.

The poor marchers could not seem to tell the difference between the curves in the drill and the straight lines to save their lives. Granted, it was the first day, so it wasn't too unexpected. However, the constant setting and resetting just seemed to make the day even longer for Ed.

When they finally reached a water break Ed flopped down onto a small patch of grass wearily. He wasn't sure just how much longer he could go on—and practice had only been going on for an hour and a half or so. What on earth was wrong with him?

He wasn't quite sure what it was, but he certainly knew who to blame: the dark-haired older teen that was walking his way.

He wasn't quite sure exactly what happened when Roy got there, though—he was in a daze of exhaustion. He did know that they talked a little. He also knew that soon enough he fell asleep, passing out from sheer exhaustion.

* * *

To be honest, Roy wasn't all that surprised when Ed couldn't reply to anything he said with a comment that made any sense whatsoever. With the lack of sleep Ed was dealing with, he was shocked that Ed had made it this far already. "Are you sure you're all right?" he couldn't help asking.

"The clouds are pretty," Ed slurred dreamily as he struggled to a sitting position.

That was definitely a response that matched the question. And no, Roy wasn't being sarcastic at all. "OK, so you're about as high on sleep deprivation as a kite in a hurricane."

"_Necesito_ rest. _No puedo _look around _sin mirar_ pretty butterflies _que no existen_," was Ed's reply. Roy could only assume it was gibberish, as he had absolutely no knowledge of the Spanish language. As it was, Roy stood impressed with Ed's ability to spew Spanglish like it was a real language. It was certainly a sign that Ed was beyond tired.

With his increasingly strange responses, Roy was not surprised when Ed suddenly lapsed into complete silence.

What was surprising was when Roy suddenly felt a comfortably warm weight land on his shoulder. Looking over, all he could see was a thick mane of golden hair. Ed had finally lost his all-out war against sleep, then. He couldn't say that in and of itself was a shocker. What had been shocking was that Ed had chosen his shoulder as a suitable resting place.

Smiling in soft amusement, Roy gently moved away so that Ed was lying on the grass. When he was certain that he hadn't woken the sleeping teen, he carefully stepped away and began the long process of getting everyone ready to work again.

When he reached the color guard, Riza stopped him. "What's with Ed?" she asked, concerned. "Is he all right?"

Roy smiled. "Yeah. For whatever stupid reason he hasn't told me, he didn't sleep at all last night. It's just catching up with him."

Practice seemed to fly by, and Roy was amazed that Ed had somehow slept through it all. There had been a lot of noise involved in the few complete run-throughs of the drill they had learned.

Walking to the bit of grass where Ed slept on, Roy figured that he wouldn't be able to wake Ed up for a while yet. So instead of wasting his time, he simply picked Ed up and began carrying him to the band room, where he could at least sleep with air conditioning.

He was so light, even for his short slim build. Pondering this, Roy almost didn't notice a flicker of gold looking up at him.

* * *

This had to be the most mortifying moment of his week.

Ed wasn't too sure of all the details of his falling asleep. He just knew that it had happened.

He also knew that apparently Roy had taken it upon himself to carry him to the band room.

He had just been sleeping, minding his own business. When he slowly began the long process of waking up, he noticed that he was warm and comfortable—far more than he should have been sleeping on the grass. Cracking an eye open, all he could see was a white shirt and Roy's face.

Well, that was just lovely. Why the hell was the older teen carrying him?

There was only one thing Ed could do. He feigned continued sleep and hoped Roy didn't notice that his cheeks were just a bit redder.

After what felt like an eternity Roy put him down in the band room. That was better. He could 'wake up' and chew Roy out royally for moving him in his sleep.

Or not. The whole situation was embarrassing enough as it was. Why should Ed add to it by bringing it up when there was a good chance Roy would never mention it?

Why was he being so damn indecisive?! What was so special about Roy that all of a sudden he was thinking twice about everything he said or did around the dark-haired teen?

Was it that look he got in his eyes occasionally when he was truly happy? Was it because Ed really wanted to see that look again and again, knowing that he had caused it?

No. It wasn't. It couldn't be. Ed was just being unusually idiotic. That was what hanging out with someone he used to think of as an idiot got him.

So why couldn't he quite convince himself of that?

Ed sighed as he quickly left the school. It was clear he needed to drill himself a few times in appropriate responses to potentially awkward situations. Maybe that way he could be prepared, since it was obvious that he could no longer avoid them entirely for whatever reason.

END CH. 6

* * *

NOTE: Ed's Spanglish

When the Spanish is translated, this actually does make sense. Spanish as a second language is a great pick for Ember. What Ed _meant_ to say:

"I need rest. I can't look around without seeing pretty butterflies that don't exist."

...Does Ember need to point out that Ed was beyond exhausted? She thinks that made it pretty obvious...

* * *

P.S.: Please leave a comment on Ember's livejournal (scroll up or see profile for link). You don't need an account to do so. It's where she was going to keep you all updated, but with no comments she doesn't think anyone's reading it and refuses to update it on a regular basis since if no one's reading it it's just a waste of time. Thanks!


	8. Chapter 7: Settling

BandGeek99: Ember's glad you read and enjoyed! This band probably seems so real because it's strongly based on Ember's marching band from freshman year in high school... Goodness, that was a long time ago... But the point remains. Percussionists are underappreciated, but Ember couldn't really see that for Roy. She felt he needed something requiring finger dexterity as opposed to skilled wrist maneuvers and epic timekeeping skills. Glad the humor thrown in there was appreciated!

Bursting-Bubbles: Ember loves her Spanish classes and an exhausted Ember certainly equals a Spanglish-speaking Ember. Just ask Rags to Riches about that one time in chemistry class...

AnimeAddic5: This soon enough? And glad you enjoyed.

* * *

Now, onto serious business. Even more serious than review responses. And that's pretty damn serious. Ember probably won't be seen here often during the month of November. The reason? She has decided to write an original work in honor of November being National Novel Writer's Month, frequently and lovingly abbreviated as NaNoWriMo. She will be posting that on the mutantpenguins livejournal, which can be found either by the link on our profile or at www. mutant-penguins. livejournal. com (without the spaces, obviously). So follow along, and be sure to comment, but don't expect frequent updates on this end of things!

* * *

_Chapter 7: Settling_

Schedules always got more hectic with the start of the actual school year, Roy remembered. Luckily for his first day he had his easy classes and electives, so it wouldn't be too bad. He shouldn't get swamped with loads of homework.

However, when he reached band class he noticed that Ed didn't have it nearly as easy. This was only their third class and already Ed was swamped with books and papers and looking frazzled. His hair, which Roy noted was in a ponytail again, was threatening to yank itself loose of his hair tie and looked as if he had run his fingers through it several times without remembering he'd pulled it back. His face was a little paler than normal and his eyes were wide, giving him a generally stressed appearance.

It was definitely a change to see the normally easygoing Ed caught up in such an obviously hectic day. With a hint of concern he asked, "What did you get yourself into?! Two classes and you're already buried under that stack of books and papers."

Ed moved the stack to one side so he could glare at Roy properly as Roy internally chuckled at the necessity of moving the stack. "Calculus and chemistry, why?"

"Because that stack of work's taller than you are?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE COULDN'T DO HIS HOMEWORK IF HE TRIED BECAUSE HE CAN'T EVEN SEE OVER A PENCIL, MUCH LESS USE ONE?!" Ed positively howled as Roy laughed.

"Well, I would hope you can see over a pencil," Roy pointed out, still chuckling. "How did you ever learn to play an instrument otherwise?"

Startled out of an impending rant, Ed replied, "Amazing mind control and telepathy skills. How else did you think I could get a body taller than a flea to move for me?"

"Well, I always thought you'd employed a puppeteer and this body was attached to countless strings. However," Roy said, passing a hand over Ed's head, "I should've felt any strings that were there, so I guess I was wrong."

"Bastard," Ed said without malice, his eyes twinkling with grudging amusement.

Really, it still amazed Roy how far they had come in a little under a month. At this point last year Ed would have meant the rant wholeheartedly along with the derogatory names and Roy would have been laughing at Ed instead of with him.

At this point last year they probably would have already had one of their infamous screaming matches and been reprimanded by some passing teacher. Really, that was one thing Roy wasn't going to miss.

It was strange, realizing that not too long ago this would have been unthinkable. Having settled easily into whatever the hell their relationship was now, it seemed like they'd been like this forever. It was difficult to remember the times when they might have just killed themselves rather than be caught having anything remotely close to a civil conversation.

This was definitely far better, though, Roy decided as he made plans to steal one of Ed's books just because he could.

* * *

After band class had unofficially ended Ed made a mistake, not that he knew it.

Ed walked to the nearest water fountain, leaving his things in the band room. When he came back a mere thirty seconds later he noticed that his stack of books looked suspiciously shorter.

Sitting down, he began to look through the stack to see what was missing.

Calculus book, check.

Calculus homework, check. And that included the whole stack of papers. Ed knew; he'd checked to make sure every last one was there.

Chemistry homework and notes, check.

Chemistry book…

The chemistry book was conspicuously absent. Looking around, he noted that Roy was across the room looking far too innocent for Ed's liking.

This just wouldn't do. Ed needed that book for his homework. If Roy thought he could take it then he'd better think again. And so as Ed walked past Roy he "accidentally" hit him with his trumpet case.

"Ow! What was that for?!" the other teen demanded irately.

"Hey, Roy, can you help me out? My chemistry book's gone missing," he said, looking pointedly at Roy.

Ed officially decided that Roy was an excellent liar, because there was no guilt or even glee in his expression. He only showed a hint of concern. "Really? Where'd you put it last?"

"It was in my pile of books. I left for thirty seconds and when I came back the rest of the pile was there but that one book was gone. Sounds kind of suspicious, don't you think?" he asked with another pointed glance at Roy.

"You think I took it?!" Roy gathered. "I'm wounded! You honestly think I would take one of your books and viciously prevent you from doing a very important homework assignment that your evil teacher assigned on the very first day of school even though you only just met him or her and you have so many better things to do, like watching paint dry or counting the hairs on that mane of hair of yours by plucking them all from your head one by one or perhaps looking for a three-legged cat or watching grass grow or finding a two-leaf clover without picking any leaves off the clover or counting all the grains of sand on a beach or maybe even doing my homework for me?!"

"While I appreciate your creativity, that run-on sentence from hell was a dead giveaway. I know you have my book, or if you don't you know where it is."

"I'm appalled! Have you so little faith in me?!"

"Absolutely," Ed replied as people began to catch onto what was happening and started to snigger in the background.

"How deeply must you stab that knife into my heart before you're satisfied?" Roy asked dramatically as Ed vaguely wondered if he took theater too.

"Deep enough to make sure that when I twist it around in there it feels awful," Ed smirked.

"I hope you know just how deeply you've hurt me, accusing me of stealing your book," Roy declared as he flamboyantly made his exit.

Even as he glared at Roy's retreating back, Ed couldn't help but laugh a little. Really, Roy could be such a drama queen when he wanted to.

He wasn't particularly worried about his book. He'd get it back. He knew it.

* * *

Roy was walking in the general direction of his car after practice when he got the sudden suspicion that someone was following him. He figured it was just his imagination, though, since he couldn't see anyone out of the ordinary behind him when he turned suddenly just to check, and kept walking.

Just before he left the grassy area in front of the school, though, he was knocked to the ground and someone sat on his legs.

"What on earth--?" Roy managed, attempting to turn his head far enough to see who was currently on top of him. Just before he could succeed, though, the person spoke, giving away his identity.

"I believe you have something of mine," said Ed's voice. "I want it back."

Well, that wasn't strange at all, Roy thought, immediately pardoning his overuse of sarcasm. In all honesty he'd never expected Ed would be able to so much as sneak up on him, much less tackle him to the ground.

Well, that didn't sound wrong in the least.

What was with the sudden outpouring of sarcasm? Roy couldn't quite understand it. But that really wasn't the point. Far more important was trying to find a way to get his blond friend off of him, somewhere other than sprawled on top of him before this got more awkward than it needed to be. Yes, personal space was really a must in any friendship, not that Ed seemed to understand that.

Oh, wait. Ed had said something. "And just what do you think I have that you want?" he demanded, trying to ignore how awkward this whole situation really was.

Ed ignored him except to hum quietly to himself. Soon Roy noticed that Ed seemed to be going through his backpack for something.

So he really had found it, then. Damn. It was a real pity that Ed hadn't taken longer to work out exactly where that book was.

Roy could practically hear the smirk in Ed's voice as he said, "Somehow I don't think you're taking that class. It seems a little advanced for someone like you."

Roy nearly growled at him. "Are you calling me stupid?"

Ed laughed. "No, I'm merely remembering something you said about disliking chemistry. If you hated it so much you wouldn't take it again in a more advanced form, unless you're absolutely insane… wait, never mind. This must be your textbook after all."

Roy scowled at a blade of grass a mere inch from his nose. "Just take it back and get off me before someone passes by and wonders exactly what you're trying to accomplish."

Was it just his imagination, or had Ed temporarily tensed up? He certainly got off of Roy quick enough. The blush on his cheeks also strongly hinted at Ed's embarrassment. Apparently he had caught Roy's meaning, thankfully.

Not entirely sure why Ed was acting so obviously embarrassed, Roy just shrugged it off and stood up, feeling rather thankful that he'd been wearing shorts and therefore had avoided grass stains on his knees. "Come on, it's time to go home."

"Yeah, shut up," Ed muttered, still a little pink in the face. Really, when Roy got home he would have to wonder why Ed seemed so settled in one moment and so uncomfortable the next. But that could wait until he was safely home and away from short blonds who would kill him if they found out what he was thinking.

END CH. 7

* * *

And you thought Ember'd leave you without another glimpse of Roy/Ed UST? Bwahaha. Think again.


	9. Chapter 8: Questions

All right, reviews, reviews... *scatters papers everywhere* Damn it.

Natty-J: Well, Ember loves you soooo(continuous o's) much. So she kept it coming. The whole NaNoWriMo thing? It didn't work out. Ember missed this too much so she's totally way far behind schedule and could never catch up in time.

AnimeAddic5: Oh, the joys of love. Ember's basking in yours. A wonderful writer? But surely you jest, love. She's flattered, though.

nuclearXsquid: Hopefully your NaNoWriMo's working out better than Ember's. Hers epic failed. Have fun with your caffeine and your writing and enjoy this!

ranmyaku-neko: ...Hunh. Ember's confused herself. This'll take a while. When she comes out of her unintelligent stupor, she'll work out a way to fix that one. Thanks for the tip! *dies clutching some real concrit to her chest*

kristen: Ah, love, Ember's so happy to see your review. Shall she compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art... more better. Ha. Ember killed a beautiful Shakespearean sonnet for you. She's still a little confused by the error pointed out by ranmyaku-neko. As you well know, when Ember's confused things have this alarming tendency to die. And she tends to stay confused for a while.

* * *

There. Now for the all-important NaNoWriMo update:

As Ember hinted at in various review responses, NaNoWriMo was a giant flop. It just isn't going to work out; she's barely written 2,000 words for it because she was bitten hard by the FMA bug and the Kingdom Hearts bug and the Black Cat bug and the just-about-everything-else-including-real-life bug. It will still be updated; it just won't make the end of November deadline. So now Ember's free to work on this once more.

And so, without further ado (about nothing... continuing in the Shakespearean theme :D)...

* * *

_Chapter 8: Questions_

Time had passed quickly, and soon it was the end of September. The band's first competition had been a total success, though Ed had been a bit miffed about the costume he'd had to wear starting at the football game the week before the competition.

Roy had smirked, quite comfortable in his own costume, and informed him that at least it wasn't a skirt.

Ed had not appreciated that remark and had nearly concussed Roy.

He had been right, though. If their show had been from any other Disney movie a skirt would have been required of him, since his costume had been modeled off of the heroine of the movie "Quest for Camelot" at the sick whim of the band director. Besides, arguments based on general principle aside, he thought he looked rather good in that shirt with its matching vest and tight pants.

Of course, now that all of his friends had seen it there were endless questions he had to deal with. Winry in particular would not stop hounding him, as she was doing at that moment.

Ed shuddered as she said delightfully, "Seriously, you two looked so _cute_ together!"

Really, this whole thing was not helping his state of belligerent denial. When Winry harped on like that it really was far too difficult to keep himself from giving himself away by doing something horribly embarrassing like blushing.

Walking faster, he replied, "We are not cute. That was one of the weirdest things I've ever had to do and if I have anything to say about it I'm never putting that thing on again." Although, he was pretty sure that if Roy asked he _would…_

Wait. That thought was _not_ conducive at all to his goal of seeming calm and unflustered.

He may have finally admitted to himself that he saw Roy a little differently than he did other people, but he sure as hell wasn't going to share that epiphany with Winry. He'd never hear the end of it. Plus, she'd probably think a confession would be a great and _cute_ idea.

Ed shuddered. Hell no. Roy finding out was absolutely the last thing he wanted. That would definitely be the most awkward situation ever. It was bad enough feeling the way he did as it was. Continual worry didn't even come close to describing his usual state of mind, even though it felt really nice when Roy was around and they were talking like they usually did these days.

Winry's amused voice sounded from behind him. "You do realize you're smiling kind of vacantly, right? It's one of the stupidest looks I've ever seen on you, even if it is kind of cute."

Ed jumped straight up about six inches. "What?! That's the stupidest idea I ever heard coming from you. Why the hell would I be _smiling_?!" He hoped he sounded angry at her for even entertaining such a notion. In reality he was mortified. He had slipped up, and he was about to pay for it.

All of a sudden, the warning bell rang, signaling that they had two minutes to get to class. Ed smiled at the cliché. Saved by the bell. "Sorry, Winry, but I've got to run!" he shouted as he trotted off to class.

* * *

"And what the hell are you going on about now, Maes?" Roy asked irritably.

"I'm just saying that it looks like there's something going on between you two, Roy," Maes pointed out once again. Roy had stopped listening after about the fifth time he had said it.

"And you haven't been listening, because I do believe I just told you that there isn't." Roy had to admit, though, that he wouldn't horribly mind if there _was_ something between he and Ed. Ed was… different from everyone else he knew. In a good way, of course. No one else he knew was quite so lively.

The others couldn't compare to his stunningly long blond hair and marvelous golden eyes, either.

"Are you even paying attention, Roy?" Maes asked, clearly amused.

"What?" Roy asked, snapping out of his temporary daze.

"That's what I thought," Maes stated.

"Why?"

"Because I just asked you if you thought Ed looked cute in his costume the other day and you nodded."

Shit. He had hoped he wouldn't do something stupid like that. But it was far too late for wishful thinking. There was absolutely no way to keep it from Maes now that he'd hinted at it. The teen was far too smart for his own good, and would figure it out even if Roy didn't tell him, so he figured it was just as well he give up.

As if Maes knew his prey had accepted defeat, he grinned evilly. "I knew there was something going on. And now you're going to tell me all about it."

On second thought, Roy wondered if playing dead was a viable strategy.

Apparently not, for he heard Maes' amused voice above him. "Pretending you're asleep on your desk isn't going to help things one bit, Roy. In fact, it'll only make things worse for you when I go ask Ed what's going on instead."

Well, he was a nice person by nature. He would willingly spare Ed the absolute humiliation this situation was sure to provide. Hughes was absolutely relentless once started, and didn't really care if a person _wanted_ to spill his deepest and darkest secrets. Even if an explanation was provided, he would instantly dismiss the first one as a fake and continue prying until his prey said exactly what he wanted to hear. And so he scribbled on a piece of paper, _Not out loud. I'm not sure of anything myself yet, so I don't want anything going around the whole school_ again.

Maes responded, _That was only one time. It wasn't my fault you decided to confess whatever that was in the middle of the locker room. Now spill. We don't have all day. Or all class, even; I hear there's going to be a quiz._

_I'm not even going to ask how you know that. You never tell me anyway._

_Stop rambling and get to the point!_

_What point? What ridiculous story do you want to hear this time?_

_What's been going on?_

_Nothing has._

_You really expect me to believe that?_ Maes' written statement was accompanied by a quirked sarcastic eyebrow.

_Yes, I do. Ed's just been acting a little differently, that's all. It's strange._

_How so?_

_He seems kind of nervous until he realizes I'm there. Then he freaks for a second, then smiles like Christmas came early._

_Interesting,_ Maes returned. But no matter how much Roy pressed him Maes wouldn't explain that one-word response.

* * *

Ed had finally escaped the evil clutches of a questioning Winry once again after their second class by politely evading the question and then running as fast as he possibly could in the opposite direction. Really, he didn't understand just why the girl was asking so many questions. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, after all. He was just being an idiot. Again.

Still rushing in no particular direction, hoping it was taking him farther away from Winry, Ed didn't realize anyone was nearby until he ran into someone and started falling.

Suddenly a pair of arms was under him, breaking his fall just inches away from the tile floor and gently bringing him back up to a standing position.

Turning to thank whoever had picked him back up, he froze as an all-too-familiar voice said, "You're lucky it was me you ran into. Someone else might not be that nice."

Trying to suppress the idiotic grin that was his instinctive reaction to hearing that voice, he finally turned the rest of the way around. "Bastard. And to think I was about to continue the nice trend and say thank you and all."

"Well, don't let me stop you."

Did Roy seriously have no idea how much that smirk affected him? He was sure his face was the color red frequently found on color wheels in art classes everywhere. He couldn't even look Roy in the eye.

Roy's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Ed."

"Yeah?" Ed replied, still staring at the floor as if it were horribly fascinating.

"Look at me."

Ed jumped. Reluctantly he tore his gaze from the floor, but he still found he could not meet Roy's eyes. Instead he looked over Roy's shoulder at a convenient poster on the wall.

Roy sounded amused. "Now answer this. Is that terribly interesting floor named Roy?"

Ed really couldn't see where Roy was going with this. "No."

"And is that wall you're looking at right now named Roy?"

"No. Why?"

"Because, if I recall, you're talking to someone named Roy right now. He just might like it if you looked at him while you were talking to him."

Ed tried really hard to control the fresh blush that threatened to stain his cheeks. He wasn't quite sure how well it was working. However, if the heat across his face was anything to go by, it wasn't working at all. Still, he forced himself to finally meet Roy's eyes and respond. "Yes, I'd imagine he might like that."

Roy smiled and Ed instantly went through another exercise in self-control. "Now, was that really so hard? I don't think you've quite looked me in the eye for a week."

Of course, now that he _was_ looking Roy in the eye he couldn't tear his gaze away if his life depended on it. "No, it's not," he replied, suddenly finding that his attention was sprinting away from the conversation and toward how Roy's dark eyes had these wonderful tiny specks of midnight blue in them.

All of a sudden the warning bell rang once more, and they quickly said their goodbyes before walking briskly in separate directions. However, Ed was still distracted as he walked, many questions revolving around Roy in his mind once more.

END CH. 8

* * *

Oh, the UST. Ember's digging it.

ZOMG EMBER POSTED HER TWENTIETH STORY! It's entitled "Something to Think About" and it's Ed-meets-religion-without-accepting-it-but-has-to-wonder-what-it's-all-about. Go read, if that sounds like your cup of tea. And look at Ember's profile whilst you're at it. There might be something yummy there for you. ;)

Ember of the mutant penguins


	10. Chapter 9: Fall

nuclearXsquid: Sorry your NaNo failed too. And sorry this has taken sooo long to update. Ember was determined to finish a Naruto fic she dredged up from the near-abandonment pile, and... yeah.

AnimeAddic5: Thanks for the kind review. Ember's glad she's getting the emotions across. Sorry for the long wait!

I love Malfoy as a ferret: Has Ember told you lately that she loves Malfoy as a ferret too? Just updating that opinion. And Ember wants them to just kiss already too, but Ed and Roy have other ideas. They've just bumped that chapter back _again..._ Damn them.

kataang816: Glad that bit was so amusing. Ember dredges up personal experience from time to time, and that was a rather interesting bit of humiliation she wanted to see someone else go through. So to Ed it went.

kristen tucker: Well, he isn't in a skirt per se. He's in a longish shirt with tight pants. What most females today call dresses. It's Kayley's outfit from "Quest for Camelot". Ember fell in love with the music for that, so it's the show!

* * *

Oh, Ember's goodness. Sorry that took so long!

* * *

_Chapter 9: Fall_

About a week had passed and, much to Roy's delight, the band had performed marvelously at its second competition. Morale was high, and even the usual troublemakers seemed to be content to maintain the band's good standing by not interfering with practices. In short, it had been an excellent week.

Driving home from practice, Roy smiled. It really had been a great week. Nothing had gone horribly wrong in school, he didn't have any major tests for the next week or so, and his parents finally trusted him enough that they felt they could take a well-deserved vacation without him now that he was eighteen.

Everything had been great as usual. Even Ed had seemed to loosen up a little and smile like he used to. Really, it had been almost scary watching him twitch and jump at every little thing. It was enough to make Roy seriously wonder about Ed's mental health.

He finally arrived at his home and sat at a table to begin his rather large stack of homework. About twenty minutes in, though, a flicker of bright red in the window caught his eye.

Standing up and going to the window, Roy stared in shock. Ed was walking down the street in a long red jacket that swirled around him in the wind, wandering as if he was lost.

What was going on? Ed should have gone home, especially with the storm everyone had seen approaching at practice, so what was he doing there?

Shaking his head, Roy yanked open his front door and quietly caught up to Ed, tapping his shoulder.

Ed jumped straight up about eight inches, finally putting the top of his head at the level of Roy's eyes, and turned around, eyes widening when he saw Roy there. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I should be asking you that," Roy replied, "but since you asked first, I live right there." Roy pointed at the correct house.

"Oh." Ed was silent for a while, staring at the sidewalk. His expression was definitely that of someone who was lost, so Roy steered him into his house and sat him at the table he'd just been doing homework at.

Once Roy cleared his homework off the table, he sat down himself. "So what _are _you doing here?" he asked, unable to put off the question any longer. "I hope that you didn't get lost. That would be entirely too amusing and I wouldn't be able to stop laughing for about a half an hour."

Ed chuckled briefly before his eyes returned to that dark and lost expression. "No, nothing like that. I just… needed time outside of my house to think, that's all."

* * *

Ed knew that Roy wasn't going to be satisfied by that explanation, but apparently he had other questions as well as he pulled a sheet of homework to himself. "So, why red?" Roy asked, gesturing at Ed's jacket.

"Why not?" Ed replied. "I saw this and thought it looked cool. I know my brother doesn't see it that way, though. I've found this jacket in his trash can more than once."

Roy shrugged, accepting the response, and continued doing what looked like a math worksheet. As he worked, Ed sat in silence and looked around at the room he was in. It was a nice enough kitchen, with a sturdy wooden table and stainless steel appliances. The floor was covered in white and green tile, and there was a leafy wallpaper border running across the top of the wall wherever there were no cabinets.

Finally breaking the comfortable silence, Ed commented, "This is a nice place. Real cozy."

Apparently Roy had decided that that was a perfect opening, for he asked, "Why aren't you at home?"

"It's a really long story," Ed warned, hoping that it would dissuade Roy.

"Well, we certainly have time. It's not like my parents will come home any second and be shocked you're here. They're currently in Ireland on vacation."

Ed fidgeted for a while, not exactly sure what to say. He certainly wasn't telling Roy the whole story—he hadn't told _anyone_ that—but he figured Roy could at least know some of the truth. "This is the day my house burned down six years ago."

"What?" Roy's head snapped up from his worksheet.

Ed sighed, knowing that this would be a long story. "Six years ago my house burned down. Al and I lost our mother in the fire, and our father had left when I was three. So we were bounced around through a few foster homes before Winry and Granny Pinako took us in. Really I don't know why we weren't with them in the first place; they were close family friends. They're great and all, but sometimes I just need to be away from them. I need to go off on my own and just… remember, I guess."

"So you've run off before? This isn't something new?"

Ed bristled at the implication that he was running away. "I always go back either late in the night or early in the morning. I used to leave notes, but now they know I'll come back. It doesn't exactly hurt that they can bug me on my cell phone now, too. That answer all your questions?"

"It'll do for now," Roy replied. "But since you mentioned you don't go back to your house until late in the night, you can sleep on the couch here if you need to."

Ed blinked, shocked at the kind offer. "I think I'll actually take you up on that. I woke up early this morning," he said as he walked toward the comfortable-looking couch.

Curling up on the couch and setting his phone on the little table nearby, he instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Roy quietly finished his homework and moved to put it away, stopping in the process to check on Ed.

When he stopped by the couch, the first thing he noticed was an annoying buzzing. When he looked around for the source, though, it stopped.

Frowning, Roy muttered a curse before getting back to his original course of action.

Smiling when he noticed Ed curled up and asleep on the couch, he walked quietly to his parents' bedroom and grabbed a blanket, bringing it back and gently laying it over the younger teen. Ed stirred slightly, sighing happily before going back to sleep.

Roy jumped when the tranquility of the moment was interrupted by the return of the buzzing sound. This time, however, he was aware of the culprit instantly.

Ed's phone had lit up.

Briefly examining it to see who was calling, Roy recognized Winry's name and figured Ed wouldn't mind him answering just this once. It was almost nine in the evening, after all, and Ed was sound asleep.

Walking back into the kitchen, Roy flipped the phone open, speaking quietly. "This is Roy. Ed's asleep."

"_Oh?"_ Winry's voice sounded surprised. _"And exactly where is he?"_

"At my house," Roy replied. "He came over earlier this afternoon and fell asleep on the couch. I didn't want to wake him."

A tinny sigh came over the speaker. _"No, don't wake him. I just wanted to make sure he was all right. I shouldn't be surprised, though. He does this every year. I'm shocked he's asleep, though. Already? Are you sure?"_

Roy frowned. "Why wouldn't he be asleep?"

"_I'm not sure how much I can say. He just never sleeps well this night. Just… make sure you're there for him, all right? I don't know what they're about, but I know he has nightmares."_

Roy had never met someone who would try to be helpful and elusive at the same time. Most of the people he knew just got straight to the point. "I'm going to pretend to understand exactly what's going on and tell you I certainly will. And I will, even though I have no clue what you're talking about. Even if he doesn't explain either."

Another sigh, this one sounding vaguely relieved. _"Thank you. He never says what's going on. I don't even know if his brother knows all of it. But he'll need someone to be there, and I can tell he trusts you."_

Roy didn't know if he was glad Winry had decided to hang up immediately after that remark or not. He had no idea how he was supposed to respond to that statement.

Figuring he should probably return Ed's phone to his former resting place, Roy paused when he heard a tiny whimper. Rushing over to the couch as quietly as possible, he saw that Ed was frowning and twitching ever so slightly.

The calm was over. Ed had fallen into his subconscious, and it clearly had no intentions of letting him go.

Roy was damned if he'd let it go. He had promised he would be there for Ed, and it would start with this nightmare.

END CH. 9


	11. Chapter 10: Explaining

kataang816: Hurrah for forgiveness! And yes, Roy is terribly needed. Ember hopes he can live up to the challenge that is dealing with Ed. Sometimes even she doesn't know. ;)

nuclearXsquid: Says Ember: "Woah! Spinny! Dizzy…" Anyhow, the spinning was tremendously fun, so she thanks you for that. Alas, there will be no mention of a bed. Sadness. And people thought the UST would be ending… But then that would be underage sex, which is bad. Yes, teenagers of the world. Don't have sex.

Bursting-Bubbles: Yes, suspense. *cackles* But now you need wait no longer. For now, anyway.

xLacrimosa: And Ember's getting addicted to reviews like yours. And it's an ickle firstie, too! Oh, happy day!

* * *

Stick around after the end, readers dearest. There's a little present for you all... a little "what might have been but wasn't" moment.

* * *

_Chapter 10: Explaining_

_Ed dreamed._

_He saw flashes of a white room, cold, clinical, and impersonal. His brother was sitting in the chair beside him, trying his hardest not to cry. It wasn't working, though, not when the brown-haired woman lying in the bed they sat watch over was clearly not well, burns everywhere._

_He saw a house, a beautiful little house with a tree in the backyard. In his dream it wasn't beautiful, though. It was burning. He saw a little boy drag a slightly bigger boy out of the house through a hole in the wall. Then he saw that same little boy go back in, returning with a woman who clearly would not have escaped the fire on her own._

_He saw that beautiful little house burn to the ground. He saw that little boy's beautiful little life shatter._

_He saw another house, not nearly so nice. It was a plain little thing, just like the man who lived in it was plain. He had brown hair and brown eyes, and perhaps it was his plainness that made him think the two little boys who moved in with him had to be perfect._

_He saw the man yell. He saw a not-so-little boy pleading with him, but the man was unrelenting in his criticism._

_He saw the woman again, clearly dead this time. "Why?" she asked with a melodic voice that belied the blackened burns on her face. "Why couldn't you save me?"_

_The man appeared next to her. "What's wrong with you? Why can't you be good enough?"_

_Ed could not reply. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. His mind was blank. There was nothing to say, not to those words._

_The two flickered back and forth, taking turns to be the accuser. Ed curled in on himself, clutching at his head and whimpering denials, but how was it possible to deny what he knew to be true? He wasn't good enough, he couldn't do anything quite right, and that wouldn't ever change. He hadn't managed to save his mother from the house fire, and he never could do anything well enough to satisfy the man who had served as a foster father. He was a failure, he routinely messed up, he was stupid and could never quite seem to get it._

_The flickering became faster and faster, and the two voices, one high and melodic and the other lower and harsher, began to blend. As the voices became one so did the faces, blending until he saw the one face he couldn't bear to see hurling those accusations at him._

_He could take it from the man; he had done so for two years. He could take it from his mother because he had let her down and he knew it. But now he saw the last face he wanted to let down, the face he knew he had disappointed time and again._

_Ed shuddered and screamed as the faces blended and became Alphonse's face._

* * *

Roy knelt by the couch with a concerned look on his face as Ed continued to twitch and whimper in his sleep. This certainly wasn't a good dream, not at all, and it looked to be getting worse by the second. He was almost relieved when Ed sat bolt upright with a scream, just because it meant he was no longer dreaming. Almost. He couldn't quite manage relief, not with Ed shuddering and wiping his fearful sweaty face.

Unthinking, he wrapped his arms around the younger teen's shoulders, surprised when Ed clung to him, burying his face in Roy's shirt.

If there was one thing Roy Mustang was not used to, it was offering comfort to another. It just wasn't something he did often. He did know, however, that if Ed was clinging to him like a small child clings to a blanket or a stuffed bear it meant that Ed was in bad shape and really needed simple human contact. Normally he snarled if poked with a ten-foot pole.

Awkwardly he gently rubbed his hand against Ed's back, his other hand stroking through the blond's long hair as he shook like a leaf in a hurricane-force gale. Roy wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but if whatever had happened in Ed's dream had the normally guarded teen acting like this it must have been bad.

Finally Ed's iron grip around his waist began to loosen as Ed picked his head up and muttered an apology with downcast eyes.

"What happened?" Roy asked softly, effectively discarding Ed's needless apology.

Roy listened as Ed stammered and stumbled around the topic for a while. He listened as Ed spoke of a beloved mother who died in a house fire, and he listened as Ed spoke of a foster father who was anything but a supportive father. He listened as Ed haltingly explained the decision to leave that home and run off to an old family friend and her granddaughter. He listened as Ed briefly described the battle that had finally ended with him and his brother in the care of the family friend.

"I was never happier than when we got out of there," he finished. "Neither of us were ever really good enough for him. I think that's when I turned to music; it was about the only hobby I could pursue that he approved of." He shuddered once more before relaxing again. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I never even told Al everything that happened. I figured he didn't need to know my side of the story, since he already had his and it was bad enough."

Roy had listened silently to all of Ed's explanation, and when it was finished he still could not think of anything to say. In no more than ten minutes he had been told the secrets of Ed's past; what could he say to that?

In the end he did the only thing he could do, and wrapped his arms around Ed once more, this time until the blond fell asleep again.

* * *

When Ed woke up the next morning he realized he was on a relatively comfortable couch in an unfamiliar home. That was enough to make him sit up quickly despite the comfort surrounding him. Looking around, he noted that someone had tucked a blanket around him while he had been asleep. Frowning as he wondered who it had been, he swung his legs over the edge of the couch.

Only to yelp in surprise as his foot met something soft and squishy and most definitely not a floor.

Looking down slowly, somewhat afraid of what he would find, Ed discovered that it was Roy he had inadvertently stepped on. Instantly he yanked his feet back up onto the couch and hugged his knees into his chest. What was he supposed to do? Why was he in Roy's house, and why was Roy here on the floor instead of sleeping in a bed?

Really, it all boiled down to one question. What had happened the night before?

Ed almost groaned out loud when the answer finally came to him. It had been October 3rd. In a lost daze, he had been wandering aimlessly as he normally did when he needed to think alone. But that had changed when he saw Roy. He was taken in and…

Oh no. He had _told_. He had told someone about what had happened. He had _never_ told anyone everything he had told Roy. So why the hell had he opened his mouth?

Even worse, he had fallen asleep on the dark-haired teen's couch and proceeded to have a fucking nightmare. Wasn't that just perfect.

He couldn't stay. Ed had royally screwed up, and he knew it. He had opened old wounds and salt was waiting for them just around the corner unless he ran like hell and hoped Roy didn't remember.

But Roy would remember. Despite the older teen's somewhat dim persona, he was a genius with a very good memory. There was nothing for it. He would have to run and avoid the older teen as much as humanly possible.

Carefully avoiding Roy this time, silently thankful that stepping on him last time had not woken him, Ed quietly wrapped the blanket around Roy's sleeping frame and tiptoed to the front door, silently slipping away into the early morning.

Ed had walked halfway home when he realized with a curse that he had forgotten his phone, leaving it lying there on a side table by Roy's couch. There was no point in going back for it; Roy would return it to him later and going back now would only mean Ed could not possibly avoid him and any conversation about the night before. And so he continued homeward, feeling cold and small and afraid. It was only a matter of time before this latest stunt of his blew up in his face.

END CH. 10

* * *

And now for the moment you've all really been waiting for...

* * *

_Bonus: What Might Have Been _(a Christmas present for those who, like Ember, believe the UST needs to end more quickly)

Shortly before Ed turned onto his street, he heard a shout. "Ed!"

The blond teen froze. He knew that voice, and he had been hoping against hope that he wouldn't hear it. He couldn't turn around; that meant facing Roy. But he couldn't continue walking, either. He was frozen in place, waiting for a reaction from the older teen.

Roy walked up to him. "You forgot your phone," he said, his face expressionless. Wordlessly Ed took the phone, slipping it into his jeans pocket. What did Roy want? Was that all, or was he going to want to talk?

Roy certainly didn't leave him hanging for long. "Listen," he continued. "I know you're freaking out right now. You probably don't want to talk about what happened yesterday, and I can understand that. I just wanted you to know… you don't have to talk until you're ready, all right?"

Ed stared at Roy, speechless. He had been so terrified that everything he had laid out in the open would be trampled on mercilessly. It seemed as if that was no longer a possibility, and Ed wasn't sure how to conduct himself now that he was a little safer.

So confused was he that he didn't even realize he was reaching out until the older teen had enveloped him in a hug.

It was no wonder that he had told, not anymore. He would have done anything for a little of the comfort this embrace brought him. Ed knew that he should shrug away from Roy's loose hold and walk off, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything but cling to Roy's shoulders and bury his face in the shirt in front of him.

He was a little puzzled, though, when he felt Roy's fingers under his chin. The confusion was lost when their eyes met, as was every other thought that had happened to be going through Ed's mind. There was nothing but a pair of dark eyes filled with emotion. Then their lips met for the briefest of moments.

Roy pulled away fairly quickly, worriedly searching Ed's expression for a reaction of some sort. Clearly he had put just as much on the line as Ed had done the previous night. What Roy didn't know was the same thing that Ed hadn't known: Ed had no intention of trampling over what Roy had laid bare in front of him.

Smiling, the younger teen reached up and brought their lips together once more, relishing the contact for a few sweet moments before reluctantly pulling away and walking the rest of the way home as Roy turned around and did the same.

There hadn't been very many words between the two of them, but they had reached an understanding all the same. They were in this together, and they would stand as equals.


	12. Interlude: A Hughes Homecoming

xLacrimosa: Yay, a rereader! Ember does that all the time.

Bursting-Bubbles: Pity the bonus didn't actually happen, isn't it?

kataang816: Yay for making your day.

AnimeAddic5: OMG EMBER LOVES YOU.

nuclearXsquid: COOKIES! Hmm, that's another awkward backstory Ember could employ, but... hmm. That's worth thinking about.

* * *

Now, pets, it is time to ignore the bonus. It never actually happened; it was just a nice Christmas present for you all. Don't worry, the UST actually DOES end soon...

* * *

_Interlude: A Hughes Homecoming_

It was a very important night to anyone with a significant other, and Maes Hughes was certainly well-prepared. He had finally gotten Gracia, his infatuation of three years, to go on a date with him, and he was not about to mess anything up.

On the other hand, he had had to force his friend Roy into going at all. He wasn't at all sure why that was the case; normally Roy was more than willing to go to any sort of social function. If Maes had to guess at the reason, though, he was sure it was that Edward probably wasn't going to show. Despite all of Roy's efforts to hide whatever the hell was going on between him and the blond junior, Maes knew that Edward was a strong influencing factor in most of Roy's decisions. And they aren't even dating yet, Maes thought with a sigh. The only thing that had finally convinced Roy to go was his duty to attend as the elected homecoming king.

Turning to his friend, Maes asked, "Is my hair all right?"

Roy chuckled. "You sound like such a girl, Maes. Your hair's fine."

It was definitely time for a few pointed remarks. "Sorry. I can't help that I don't have lovely blond hair that could never look bad at all," he smirked.

For the first time that Hughes had seen in their long friendship, Roy blushed faintly. "No, you don't," he quipped. "Now can we get on with it and get this over with?"

True to form, they were soon on their way. The night progressed very well for Maes; Gracia truly was a wonderful date and he certainly planned to keep her around for as long as possible. He couldn't help but notice, though, that Roy did not seem to be enjoying himself nearly as much as Maes was, despite the girls who surrounded him. He was smiling, to be sure, but he kept scanning the crowds for something--a shock of blond hair, perhaps? Whatever it was, he seemed to be having difficulties in locating it, and whenever he looked his smile faded for just an instant before he threw himself back into conversation.

The night continued much like it had began until suddenly it was time for Roy to dance with the homecoming queen. She was a lovely girl named Olivia, the no-nonsense captain of the girl's soccer team, and her sensibility was evident in the plain but attractive cut of her ice blue dress. Nonetheless, Roy seemed to be completely uninterested in her, even as she seemed mildly interested in him.

Suddenly Roy's eyes widened, and Maes quickly followed his gaze to see Ed looking shocked and wounded. Shortly after Maes noticed him, he turned and ran through the doors he had been standing by.

Looking back at Roy, Maes saw a pleading pair of dark eyes look at him and then at the doors Ed had just used to escape the room. Nodding to indicate that he understood, Maes turned to Gracia. "It's friend drama time," he sighed. "Remember what I told you about Roy and his friend Edward?"

Gracia nodded. "They're in complete denial about what they should be, right?"

"Yeah. Well, Ed just saw Roy dancing with a girl who's all over him. Roy can't really leave to reassure him right now, and I don't think he even knows what's wrong. Hell, I don't think _Ed_ knows what's wrong. But he ran off and Roy wants someone there."

Gracia smiled. "You really know him well, don't you? Come on, let's go."

"Really?" Maes asked. "You don't have to come with me."

"But I want to," Gracia replied. "If I can help out at all, I want to. Remember, we met in a peer mediation class all those years ago for a reason," she smiled.

"Then let's go. There's no telling where Ed ran off to, not when he's like this."

Together they left the gymnasium the dance was taking place in and began to search for Ed. They walked through the main hallway, without success. Maes checked every men's restroom they came across on their way, with similar luck. Finally determining that Ed was not in any of the locations in use for the dance, the two of them ducked under a table and began walking through the academic hallways.

Maes was growing more worried with each footstep that did not lead them to the younger blond. Gracia, picking up on his nervousness, wound an arm gently around his waist. "It'll be all right," she said softly. "We'll find him. Is there a class he particularly enjoys? He may have run there. Maybe there's a place nearby he finds comforting."

Instantly a thought flew through Maes' mind. "Let's walk by the band room," he replied. "I have a feeling he's there."

Sure enough, a small form with blond hair sat by the door of the band room, clutching his knees to his chest and burying his face in his knees.

Instantly Maes felt his heart go out to the younger teen. "Ed?" he said quietly.

Golden eyes reddened by the tears flowing down his cheeks looked up at him silently, waiting for him to continue.

Feeling rather oppressed by the silence, Maes wasn't exactly sure what to do. Gracia, however, had no such qualms, not even caring about the shimmering soft pink material of her dress as she sat on the dusty floor and wrapped an arm around Ed's shoulders. "It hurts, doesn't it?" she asked, her voice soft and empathetic. "You look at him, and somehow you know you can't ever be good enough to deserve that. But it still hurts to see him around someone else, am I right?"

Ed nodded, looking absolutely miserable as Gracia wrapped slim fingers around his chin and turned his head to face her.

"I know how that feels. I know it's not fun, but he's worried sick about you. The only reason he couldn't run out looking for you is he had to keep dancing. It's his duty as homecoming king. Despite what I'm sure it looked like, he really didn't want to dance with her."

"I know," Ed whispered, and Maes started at the first words that Ed had spoken that night. "But why does it still hurt?" he asked with a quiet sob as he clutched at his chest. "I don't understand! I know he didn't really want to be here, but I--" he broke off, helpless.

Realizing it was his turn to reassure the blond, Maes sat down beside him as well. "You want to be the one he's dancing with, Ed. It's that simple. It hurts because you're not the one in his arms, and you wish you were. You want to be the one making him laugh and smile, and you want to be his. Am I right?"

Ed looked up at him, mortified and blushing.

Maes smiled. "You don't have to hide it, you know. I think it's wonderful that someone cares about Roy enough to get him to stop and look at things differently. He really cares about you, did you know that? He was worried sick when you ran off, and I know he's been concerned about something this past week, even though he won't tell me what. Not his place, he said.

"I know things have been pretty awkward between you two for the past month," he continued, "and even more so for this past week. I also know to trust my eyes, and you two are meant for each other. Understand? You don't have to deny anything, not around us."

Ed sat there for a moment, stunned, before he buried his face in his knees once more. Instantly Gracia moved so she could hug him, and soon Ed's arms wrapped around her shoulders, silently grateful for the offered comfort.

A few moments passed, and Ed calmed enough to gently pull away from Gracia's embrace. Maes helped him to stand. "Let's get you cleaned up and having fun, all right? Just leave it to this appearance genius over here. She'll get you straightened out in no time."

Gently the pair led Ed to a water fountain to rinse his face, and Ed's mood had visibly improved. Silently they walked back to the dance and straight into Roy, who was practically running out of the doors.

Obviously concerned, he turned to Ed. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"He'll be fine," Maes provided when Ed didn't answer. "A little shocked, that's all. This is your first time at one of these, right?" he asked.

Ed nodded, obviously grateful for the cover as they all walked back into the gymnasium.

The night went on, and Maes noticed the increasing level of discomfort and awkwardness radiating from both Roy and Ed. Figuring it would be best to leave the pair alone for a moment, he led Gracia onto the dance floor for a slow dance. "Sorry about that," he muttered as they began to dance. "I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't been for Roy, but he was concerned and Ed's clearly never felt anything like this so he's confused as hell and--"

Gracia smiled. "I said earlier that I don't mind. I think it's great you have a friend like that."

As they continued dancing, Maes looked over to notice that both Ed and Roy looked increasingly uncomfortable and neither appeared to be saying anything. Silently he resolved to do something about their situation. It was past time they hook up, and he knew neither of them was going to do anything about what was going on between them.

He smirked. They wouldn't stand a chance, not with Maes the Matchmaker on their cases.

END INTERLUDE

* * *

Told you the UST would end soon. Even Ember's getting tired of it. Not much longer...

EDIT: This story (along with all my other fanfiction) is on hold until further notice (hopefully not too long). See profile for directions to details.


	13. Chapter 11: Caught

In case anyone actually remembers how they reviewed...

toobeauty: Aww, Ember loves her Ed. **huggles** And soon the torture will end. Very soon.

Bursting-Bubbles: Ember was actually kind of worried about her Hughes. Glad you love him!

xLacri: Thanks, hun, for the lovely review. Here's more for you.

nuclearXsquid: Happiness comes soon... after a little more torture.

PaperBagGhost: Everything Ember writes is interesting, in one way or another... or so she hopes, anyway. :D

kataang816: Ember can't wait either. She's getting rather frustrated with her Ed and Roy who simply can't get over themselves and hook up already.

kristen: No, it won't end yet! And no, that's an entirely different backstory...

* * *

Ember's sorry this is so late! She was... well, she was rather depressed for a week, apathetic and suffering from writer's block for two weeks after that, participating in the pit orchestra for her school's winter performance (West Side Story is an amazing musical, but it has really really hard music!), and suddenly it had been forever since she updated.

Forgive her for the delay!

* * *

_Chapter 11: Caught_

The Monday after homecoming weekend, Roy caught wind of a rumor going through the band that there were a pair of notes to him and Ed taped up in a practice room. No one could agree on the possible content of the notes, though. Some believed that it was general hate mail, a few believed that it was a death threat or two, and it was even mentioned that the notes could be love letters. Feeling rather confused by this discrepancy, Roy decided it was time to investigate.

When he walked down the hallway, he noted that Maes had stolen a couch from the theater room and set it so it was blocking the practice room in question. He also noticed that many a band student had congregated around Maes and his couch, wondering just what the hell was going on.

Realizing he was one of those curious band students, he snapped, "Maes, what the hell is going on?"

"Well," his friend drawled, "I happened to be walking by when I noticed this practice room was open and something was in it for you and Ed. I know band kids are nosy as hell," he directed at the congregation around him, "so I borrowed this couch from my dear friends down the hall to keep them out. We all know about those theater kids and how they treat this couch, don't we?"

At Maes' words, the entire crowd shrank as far away from the couch as the hallway and their own curiosity would allow. No one was exactly sure what exactly was on that couch, as new rumors flew from the theater department daily, and no one wanted to be the first to find out.

"Anyhow," Maes cheerfully continued, "You should probably get Ed and look into it. They won't leave you alone until you do."

Sighing at his friend's antics, he left to find Ed, taking a moment to reflect on recent happenings.

Recently Ed had been increasingly distant, finding excuses to leave as soon as possible when Roy entered a room. Roy was not sure what was going on, but he was fairly certain he had not done anything different or offensive in the past month.

Then again, the awkwardness had multiplied after their impromptu sleepover the previous week. Maybe that had contributed to why Ed was avoiding him to the point that it was nearly impossible to give him his phone back.

Once more Roy sighed. Hopefully Ed would actually agree to go with him, if only to disband the crowd that was clogging the hallway and to get Maes to return the couch.

Finally he found Ed staring pensively at the piano in the band room, ghosting his fingers over the keys without actually playing a note. "You play?" he asked, curious enough to forget temporarily the commotion in the hallway.

Ed jumped. "No," he muttered, turning to walk away. Before he could, though, Roy grabbed his arm.

"Listen, I can tell you don't want to talk to me, and I'll deal with that later," Roy began, "but for now could you just follow me? If you don't Maes won't return the couch he stole from the theater department."

Ed turned back to face him, a single eyebrow raised. "He stole the couch?"

"Yeah."

"And what on earth possessed him to steal the couch?"

"I'm not really sure. But he wants you to follow me and talk to him."

Miraculously, Ed followed him into the hallway.

* * *

Ed really wasn't sure to make of the situation. Roy's friend had stolen the theater couch? Had he not heard the rumors associated with that couch?

It seemed he hadn't, as he was sprawled comfortably across it in the middle of the hallway eyeing the crowd that had congregated around him. Upon seeing the two of them, though, he jumped up with a grin. "Roy! Ed!" he shouted jovially. "Glad to see you!"

"What on earth are you doing?" Ed asked, ignoring the warm welcome. He wanted to get this over with and go away, the sooner the better. It was awkward enough as it was.

"Well," Maes drawled, "I was hoping you could assuage the curiosity of all these lovely little kitties here and find out what those are." He jerked a thumb toward the practice room immediately behind him.

Somewhat curious himself, Ed walked into the practice room, finding two folded notes taped to the wall. One bore his name, and the other Roy's. Both names appeared to have been written by the same hand, one that was either very neat for a male or rather sloppy for a female. Apart from that, Ed could deduce nothing from the handwriting.

Waving Roy into the room, he slowly walked toward the note with his name on it and peeled it off the wall, only to hear the sound of a closing door. Ignoring it, Ed proceeded to read the note.

_Because you won't do this yourself, I decided to take a step to help you out. The two of you need to talk about more than just your classes; that much is obvious._

_Stop worrying so much. I've seen the way he looks at you, and I can assure you that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from talking to him._

_As a precaution, because I know by now you'll probably want to bolt for the door, I've blocked it. Good luck escaping._

The note was signed by Maes.

Cursing the older teen's idiocy and meddling nature, Ed ran to the door, only to find that it wouldn't open. Looking through the tiny window in the door, he noticed that the couch had been pushed up against the door and a string had been tied around the handle and attached to one of the legs of the couch to prevent the door from opening.

Growling another curse, Ed made a crude gesture as Maes' grinning head popped into his view. The head quickly disappeared as something black shrouded the window.

Someone, most likely Maes, had clearly thought this through and had it in for him.

This was going to be interesting.

* * *

Roy had not even begun to read before Ed started cussing. Looking up curiously, he murmured, "Is there a problem!"

"Yes!" Ed snarled, whipping around and looking rather like a wild cat. "Your idiot friend shut us in here and used the couch to block the door!"

"But the door opens this way," Roy pointed out sensibly.

"Not when he ties the fucking handle to the couch, it doesn't!" Ed shouted, curling up into a corner. "Face it! We're stuck here, and it's all his fault!"

Well, Roy thought, this would be interesting. Attempting to find out what Maes was trying to accomplish, he returned to his note.

_Stop beating about the bush. You're only hurting him._

_I gave you this opportunity for a reason. Don't waste it, idiot. I won't hesitate to make you both miss practice if I don't see visible progress. Yes, I will be checking in on you every now and then, and you will stay there until I get my desired result. I don't care how long it takes, so you had better get a move on._

_Mess this up and I'm killing you,_

_Maes_

This really would be interesting. Roy actually had very little idea what Maes was referring to. He gathered that he wanted the two of them to talk, but he wasn't sure exactly of the topic. Feeling rather confused, he asked Ed, "Did the note he left you make any sense?"

Ed's face reddened. "A little, you?"

"Not at all. Just said that he won't hesitate to make us miss practice. What did you gather from yours?"

Clearly, Ed did not wish to talk about whatever Maes had left for him, for he was silent and attempts to obtain his note proved futile to the point that Ed tore it up and sat on the scraps.

What exactly was Ed trying to hide?

If direct interrogation wouldn't work, Roy reasoned, he would simply have to gently prod it out of him. There was only one problem with that, though. Ed could be very stubborn when he wanted to be, and since he had decided he wasn't talking to Roy, that was unlikely to change.

Before Roy could open his mouth to start a suitably innocent line of conversation that would hopefully lead to the answer he was looking for, he heard a strange noise outside the room. Going to the door, he jumped back as the noise suddenly got louder, revealing itself to be a song. Someone had set up a music player just outside the door.

Roy paled as he recognized the song. He was uncertain of the title, but it was a love song in no uncertain terms. All of a sudden, he understood what Maes was getting at.

He had been confused for a long time, sure. But how the hell had Maes interpreted it as... _this_? He wasn't sure, and this he certainly hadn't thought of this as a potential problem. But as he looked at Ed once more, noting the incredible rare gold of his eyes and the way his hair fell in a failed attempt to mask them, he vaguely wondered just how he_ hadn't _thought of it.

That was hardly the problem at hand, though. The problem at hand was that he was trapped in a small practice room with a surprisingly voiceless blond he had just realized he had been infatuated with for the past month and his idiot friend was trying to set them up, even going so far as to provide mood music.

This was going to be more interesting than Roy had previously thought.

END CHAPTER 11

* * *

Cliffhanger... and a faster post next time! Promise, loves!


	14. Chapter 12: Hooked

To all my reviewers: I am immensely sorry for how long it took to update this. As has been hinted at by my update schedules here, I have jumped fandoms into Star Trek: 2009. If any of you have made the jump and read my work there, I am happy. If not, that's ok too. And that shouldn't excuse me from posting this. Because that's just wrong and abandoning fiction isn't how I roll.

~Ember

(ps. that was a review response to all of you in general, since there are so many of you because it took so long)

* * *

_Chapter 12: Hooked_

There was exactly one thought running through Ed's mind over and over again: _Shit_.

How on Earth had Roy's idiot friend managed to plan this without anyone's knowledge? He should have seen this coming. As it was, he was simply trying to hide the humiliated blush on his face.

Funnily enough, hiding was remarkably difficult in a small practice room when trapped with someone else. It was even harder when that someone else was staring at you with a confused look in his eyes.

"What's going on?" Roy asked. "Are you all right?"

How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? He had only just accepted that he had some sort of ridiculous crush on the older teen; he sure as hell wasn't about to let that revelation slip out just yet, if at all. "I'm fine," he responded, trying to hide the tremor in his voice.

Apparently, it didn't work, as soon a warm hand cupped his cheek. "You don't look like it."

A deep blush slammed into Ed's face. When the hell had Roy gotten so close? It was terrifying. If Ed made any indication that Roy's proximity, the hand on his face, even the older teen's _scent_ had this kind of effect on him, he had no idea what would happen. He had to hide it, all of it, before Roy even had a chance to become suspicious.

Yanking away, Ed snarled, "I'm _fine_!" and moved away, backing into a corner before he realized his mistake.

Roy smirked. Clearly he thought Ed was cornered and defenseless. If so, he was about to learn his mistake. Ed was not about to let the strangest and most wonderful friendship he had ever had pass him by because he couldn't realize it was only that.

Roy, however, seemed to have other ideas, and walked over to where Ed was standing. Clearly the dark-haired teen had no concept of personal space, for he was certainly invading Ed's. Had he always stood this closely, or was this some new mechanism he was using to torment Ed?

Backing away further, Ed winced as his head slammed against the wall, sinking to his knees and cradling his abused skull.

This was bad. There was no way he could convince Roy that he was fine and would be even better if the other teen would stand quietly at the other side of the practice room when he had only just obviously hurt himself. It was in Roy's nature to be concerned and caring, one of the many things Ed normally appreciated about him but now wished would temporarily go away for his own security of mind.

Sure enough, the older teen knelt beside him, gently grasping his head in both hands. "What did you do that for? Are you trying to knock yourself out?" he chided gently.

Normally, Ed would have laughed, but this time he could only manage a weak chuckle.

How the hell was he supposed to get out of this one?

* * *

By this point, Roy wasn't quite sure who he should be more amazed at: Maes or Ed.

On the one hand, Maes clearly had quite an impressive collection of love songs at his disposal, and he vaguely wondered how exactly his friend had gotten his hands on them.

On the other, Ed was clearly freaking out and nothing had even _happened_. All he'd done was...

_Oh_.

Was this what Maes was trying to get at? At first Roy had dismissed it as some kind of joke, especially given his friend's twisted sense of humor. Then again, none of Maes' jokes had ever been designed to hurt, and Roy was pretty sure he wouldn't change his pattern.

So, clearly, Maes had seen something he hadn't and had decided to force his knowledge upon the two of them.

The song changed again as Roy mulled over this realization. There was something he was missing, something that would cause Ed to panic whenever he stepped within three feet of the blond teen and yet kept the two of them together. What the hell had Maes noticed?

Instead of trying to do the impossible and puzzle out Maes' motives, Roy focused on the problem at hand. Looking over at Ed again, Roy froze in shock.

The younger teen's heated blush had faded to a light pink and his eyes were glazed and unfocused, his lips forming words that did not reach Roy's ears. After a few moments, Roy realized that Ed was lip-syncing to the song that was playing.

Smiling at the scene before him, Roy asked quietly, "You like this song?"

Ed nodded, still focusing more on the song than on the situation. That could only play to Roy's advantage, and he took the opportunity to edge closer until he was most decidedly invading what Ed would have referred to as his personal space. Ed shyly leaned even closer, vaguely surprising Roy. It seemed Ed was more willing than he was letting on to be in Roy's presence when he had something to distract him from the front he was putting up.

Thinking that maybe this crazy thing that had started wasn't just coming from him, Roy gently laid a hand on Ed's cheek, focusing Ed's gaze on his face and smiling as those beautiful golden eyes widened, a mix of hope and doubt swirling in their depths. "What are you...?" he whispered, as if he was afraid.

"I think the appropriate question is what are _we_ doing?" Roy replied, equally quiet as Ed moved even closer, entranced.

As Roy closed the short distance between them, he couldn't help thinking, _it's about damn time._

* * *

Really, Ed had had every intention of responding to Roy's comment. However, that intention had been thrown out the door and stomped on a few times when Roy started kissing him.

Had Ed been capable of thinking, he might have been amazed by how wonderful it was despite his initial assertions that it really couldn't be all that special. However, rational thought had gone with his planned response, so the only thing he could really do was cling to Roy and try not to fall apart.

Ed's eyes fluttered open as Roy pulled away. Funny, he hadn't even realized he had closed them. "What the fuck...?" he whispered slowly, attempting to come out of his daze.

"Well, not exactly," Roy smirked.

Ed scowled. "Shut up. That's not what I meant and you know it."

Roy took his time kissing the scowl off of Ed's face, and by the time the older teen pulled back Ed was breathless. "I know. But it had to be said."

Suddenly nervous once more, Ed tangled the fingers of his hand into Roy's shirt. "Listen..."

"What is it?"

"I... I've never done anything like this before," Ed admitted, feeling his face redden again.

"And?" Roy prompted gently.

"I have no idea how this works," he blurted, not knowing how else to say it.

"Well," Roy said, pausing for a moment to think or to phrase whatever he was saying, "it works a little differently every time. That's half the fun."

"I... I don't know, could we keep this quiet, just until we... or, I guess _I_... know what this is? I don't want this forming based on what others think it should be," Ed muttered, hoping Roy got the point of what he was trying to say.

Roy smiled. "Sure. You have a good point, you know."

Ed looked up, startled. "Really?"

Roy nodded. "If we start something and base it off of others' expectations, that's not something either of us would be happy with. So I agree; let's work out what this is first."

"Thanks," Ed said, leaning up to kiss Roy again.

When they heard the door unlock, they realized they had three minutes to make it down to the field that was a five-minute walk away.

They made it, barely, cursing Maes all the while.


End file.
